Disagreements keep democracy intact.

• Position: Your Life - Brief Article

The amount of friendly disagreements about politics is keeping democracy strong in the U.S., concludes a book co-authored by political scientist Paul Johnson of the University of Kansas, Manhattan.

Political Disagreement proposes that, while strongly partisan voters certainly are less likely to encounter ideas and opinions that are different from their own, most Americans have contact with people who differ with them over national politics.

"This is important because it means that at least some people are regularly being forced to reconsider their...