Reclaiming Civility in the Public Square makes an excellent case for the importance that civility plays in social interactions and offers a practical approach for how the average citizen can be an effective part of the political process. This book show how essential it is to create and maintain a positive relationship with people with opposing beliefs, especially in today's hostile and divisive political climate.

For most it feels inevitable that speaking on issues with people who share beliefs that challenge our own will almost always result in animosity and frustration, and ultimately a complete waste of time and energy. Dahnke and Spath demonstrate how by understanding and humanizing others first, all of those issues can be avoided. Viewing others as people instead of enemies can lead to meaningful dialogue that produces positive change. We have seen little to no progress on many important issues because of refusal to compromise or even listen to those we fundamentally disagree with.

As enlightening as this book was there are still a few things with which I disagreed. The rules "Listen with your strength", "listen with your mind", and "listen with your heart" are similar enough that grouping them together under a more general rule would have been better. Instead of detracting from the unique importance of these three topics, together they could create something even stronger. Given this list is only ten items long, three points that all cover different ways to listen feels a bit redundant.

I also felt some of the stories to be a bit underwhelming. Most of them were very strong, but for me there were a few that did not strengthen the topic each supported. In theory it is a nice idea to include real examples for every single rule, but the presence of some seemed they were more about satisfying this device than to reinforce the accompanying rule.

Regardless, the argument this book makes for how essential it is to promote and practice civility is exceptionally compelling. It is something easy for us to overlook, but it is something that is ever present in every single social interaction we have. Civility is the difference between an obstructive government and a progressive one. As proven through this book, it is the tone of our individual interactions that is ultimately more important than the issues we are advocating.