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Recently I heard Betsy Hoffman, provost of Iowa State University, provide a concise articulation of elementary economics. She then related her remarks to the health-care situation in the United States, which led to a stimulating and intense discussion.

She provided a moment of discovery for me. I began to think about a larger context for the economics basics that Hoffman provided as a potential foundation for civil discourse on the issues and problems that so urgently need discussion and resolution in our society.

What follows is a brief synopsis of process that could form the framework for those discussions.

The hypothesis: Disagreements over the legitimacy of various public benefit goods have caused our country to become fractured and polarized. All branches of our government appear to be paralyzed regarding these issues and the danger is that people are beginning to believe government does not work.

People are fed up with the seeming inability or unwillingness of candidates of either party or current elected leaders in Congress and the executive branch to address problems and move the country forward.

The atmosphere has become so politically charged that every idea and program proposal to address any of these issues is immediately labeled a Republican or a Democratic idea, inflaming opposition so that rational discussion is not possible.

This endangers the future of our democracy.

Philosophical differences between Republicans and Democrats can largely be defined along the fault lines of what are public benefit goods, who should pay for them and how they should be delivered.

Public benefit goods are those things where the public cost of NOT doing things is so high that the public believes they must be done. Usually partnerships and coalitions are required for funding and delivery. A combination of support is in place: individual, institutional and government contributions. Examples of public benefit goods are public education, transportation infrastructure and health care.

Political candidates throw out “sound-bite” ideas about solutions. Without a clear public understanding of the problem, this will continue to be the case. Sound-bite ideas cannot address the complexity of any of these issues.

Healthier and more productive discussions might occur if they began at a grass-roots level and were focused on finding common ground regarding what “public benefit goods” really are. Many could stand together on that common ground to work on the problems.

A grass-roots movement is needed to agree on problem definitions so the political decisions now out of reach can be made.

How can these discussions begin? Can we talk?

Mary Kramer is a former president of the Iowa Senate and U.S. ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean.