Public Policy or Public Politics
So, what shall we talk about?
Civil discourse - whilst being civil - needs to be about something. There is generally little need to admonish interlocutors about the need for civil and effective speech when all they are speaking about is the weather.
"Too bad it is raining today or we ..."
"You pusillanimous cad! That is not rain; that is drizzle! That is the problem with you Q wingers - you are always making mountains out of molehills - or in this case, thunderstorms out of mist! Your mother was a hamster and your father smells of elderberries!"
"Oh yeah? You Z wingnuts just want everybody to believe that we have no responsibility for this dismal downpour - you minimize it for dark and secret nefarious purposes. You want everybody to see the world through your fog-colored glasses. You want children to drown ... I say to you: 'Ni!'"
Then again ..
. the sum of all weather is climate ... and suddenly out come the daggers. So, why do weather and climate create such different discursive environments? Most people understand that there is little we can do - collectively or otherwise - about the weather. There are many people who believe - rightly or wrongly - that there is something that we can do (and have been doing) about the climate. The difference is that the discussion of climate has become a public policy debate.
A topic that invites government action ushers politics in as well. Any aspect of life where government acts becomes politicized. The books and media provided in public libraries become a political issue those provided in private libraries do not.
From Merriam-Webster:
politics - 1. a : the art or science of government b : the art or science concerned with guiding or influencing governmental policy c : the art or science concerned with winning and holding control over a government
The major political parties have split (roughly) along the fault lines of fundamental political philosophy - ideology.
Again from Merriam-Webster:
ideology - 1. : visionary theorizing 2. a : a systematic body of concepts especially about human life or culture b : a manner or the content of thinking characteristic of an individual, group, or culture c : the integrated assertions, theories and aims that constitute a sociopolitical program
Ideology has a bad rep. But why? Some argue that ideology gets in the way of "solving problems". That position is based on the assumption that government action is the way to solve the problems. And that is one key aspect of the ideological difference.
"In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem."
- President Ronald Reagan, First Inaugural Address
Every policy question whose answer differs depending on underlying political philosophy - and that would be all of them - will be characterized as "partisan politics" even if it is the application of political principles to solve a problem. Or rather, because it is the application of political prionciples.
Even asking the question: "Is this a problem that government should address?" or to fail to ask it thereby implicitly answering it with "Yes, of course." is partisan politics.