CLEVELAND -- It seems a little incongruous to joyously celebrate America this July 4, given that a former president has been convicted of a felony, and Americans processed the verdict, not in a unified manner, but through the divided lens of their selective exposure to partisan media outlets.

And yet the broader implications of these events speak well for the country. The fact that the nation has a legal system that ensures no one is above the law -- and allows defendants who believe they were wronged to appeal the verdict -- is a testament to democratic principles. The political diversity of the nation’s media outlets, a tradition that dates back to the feisty press of the 19th century, affirms the marketplace of ideas embraced by political philosophers.

The Fourth remains a day to celebrate a civic nationalism that was borne of the American Revolution. The birth of the American Republic was an epochal event in world history, not least because it made ideas and ideals of the Enlightenment a reality. It gave us a living, breathing and brilliantly conceived written Constitution with a system of checks and balances that democracies the world over admired. Its Founders invented a division of powers in the three branches of government that, on the one hand, safeguarded the republic from takeover by a demagoguing populist autocrat, and, on the other, gave us a democracy girded by individual rights, enshrined in a Bill of Rights, so that the worst temptations of a tyranny of the majority were kept in check.

The Fourth is also a day to appreciate the core features of American patriotism, in the best sense of the word: the commitment to equality, pluralism, individualism, and the will to defend democracy, so sublimely saluted last month during the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

As citizens, we must not only celebrate these historic achievements, but also use the occasion to rededicate ourselves to the idea of the modern republic. This reminder is the need of the hour when the nation is polarized in legislatures, in communities, in workplaces, and college campuses. Many are rightly wondering if we can even keep the republic.

The imperative of this civic duty calls for a national conversation on how to bridge the partisan divisions that roil the country.

At first blush, a solution seems elusive. Americans strongly prefer to talk to people of a like political mind. Yet we can’t bridge our differences and repair civic ruptures unless “like talks to unlike;” we prioritize “both and” over “either/or;” and find ways to reframe our differences by recognizing the common bonds that unite us.

For example, in his research, Matthew Levendusky, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, has found that informing people that another individual belonged to the rival political party but shared the respondent’s favorite professional football team bonded partisans, reducing their hostility toward those from the other party.

While there are practical challenges to implementing this approach, it suggests a way to prime common bonds to reduce partisan hostility. And that’s what we should try to do on the Fourth — talk politics, the currency of the nation’s first Independence Day, and if the conversation is with someone from a different party, try to find points of common reference.

Scholars have cautioned that continued rabid polarization can push the nation toward civil disunion that can lead to political violence.

The brilliant, if imperfect, Founders of this country gave us a blessed patriotic gift – a republic. But the tidings came with a caveat. We may recall the question a woman reportedly posed to Benjamin Franklin on the last day of the Constitutional Convention on Sept. 18, 1787: “Well, Doctor, what have we got: a republic or a monarchy?,” she asked, to which Franklin offered this eerily relevant reply: “A republic if you can keep it.”

Richard M. Perloff is Distinguished Professor of communication and political science, and Anup Kumar is a professor of communication, at the Levin College of Public Affairs and Education, Cleveland State University.

Have something to say about this topic?

* Send a letter to the editor, which will be considered for print publication.

* Email general questions about our editorial board or comments or corrections on this opinion column to Elizabeth Sullivan, director of opinion, at esullivan@cleveland.com.