People say sausage-making isn’t pretty. There’s the process of grinding up different animal organs. Then you must shove the resulting slurry into tubular casings.
The same is often said about legislation in government. Messy all around.
Both sound unpleasant. Montana’s Jon Bennion, though, sees things differently. An alum of the 2018 class of Presidential Leadership Scholars (PLS), Bennion thought sausage-making provided the perfect platform for easing tensions and building relationships among the incoming members of the Montana state legislature.
Jon Bennion (middle left) at his annual sausage-making event for Montana state legislators.
Inspired by his time in PLS – a program that brings together a broad range of leaders committed to bridging divides through values-based leadership – he saw an opportunity to help his state government be more effective. His idea…ground down…to two main ingredients and a simple recipe: food and bonding would facilitate the relationships and trust that are vital to building consensus on legislation.
This past January, Bennion welcomed new legislators from both sides of the aisle to his fourth annual sausage-making event in Helena, Montana. The gathering made the local news and participants seemed to genuinely enjoy themselves. This certainly contradicts much of the vitriol we’ve come to associate with national politics.
There are some important ground rules though that participants must understand. “We’re not here to talk about your bill. We’re not here to talk about policy. We’re here to make tasty sausage,” Bennion tells them.
It’s a good reminder that not every moment of our lives or whom we spend time with should be dictated by our personal politics. Sometimes we can enjoy good company and food without making things contentious. While big issues should be hashed out, it’s not the requirement of every waking moment. It’s okay to put politics away periodically and have fun – even with people who don’t share our views.
Pluralism tends to thrive when we take this lesson seriously. We can disagree on important topics, but still find time to have, or make, a meal together. That shared experience is important for fostering deeper relationships and trust. At the very least, it’s harder to vilify someone or assume their worst intentions if you’ve developed a personal relationship.
How does all that lead to better governance for us as Americans?
“Governing is not giving a speech,” Bennion said. “It’s not getting on Twitter and coming up with the thing that’s going to catch the media’s attention. It really is about building relationships of trust with people that you don’t necessarily agree with on everything, but you share some common values. Those are the people that are really effective.”
We couldn’t agree more. We look forward to seeing more literal and figurative sausage-making among our leaders as they proudly practice civility, pluralism, and good citizenship.
