PRESIDENTIAL campaigns are a notoriously bad environment for debating how America will approach the world.
"They wanted a very controlled environment for the debate".
Neither had anything to do with preconceived notions regarding the most effective environment for parliamentary debate, yet both have had divergent influences on constitutional procedures, thereby deeply affecting the whole theory of government.
Accents like a vintage-inspired side table, a pair of chairs, books, flowers and lamps, all create an environment for great debates, good laughs and intelligent remarks.
And while you may never have heard of either, they offer a window into the most intriguing environment around for debating our future relationships with technology.
In fact, the built environment has become a focus for debate about how to control obesity and related health care costs.
Watching Falwell's preening and posturing speech -- at one point he gestured toward his back pocket and implied he had a gun ready to fire at any provocation, provoking laughs and cheers -- I shuddered to think of the environment for academic freedom and debate on his campus.
And other issues like homelessness, education, the environment and poverty are hardly solved with even progress up for debate - both domestically and abroad.
When we all take responsibility for maintaining an appropriate and constructive environment, the debate itself is improved and everyone benefits.
It would deliver a new pluralism allowing a broadening of debate and a fertile environment for progressive reform.
