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President Trump committed impeachable offenses and the impeachment process should move forward to enforce institutional boundaries. But if the ultimate goal is to preserve democratic norms, then Congress should also confront factors that make divisive politics effective in the first place.

Before becoming a Massachusetts state Senator I worked on negotiations in civil wars in the Middle East for the United Nations. An eerily similar effort to exploit group division for political gain is happening here. The difference is conflict overseas often mobilizes efforts to tackle underlying causes. It is time to do the same here.

This is a vulnerable moment in America. Politicians often exploit the backlash that follows rapid social and demographic change. In recent examples, the Republican southern strategy" used race as a wedge issue in the decades following 1960s civil rights legislation. In 2004 President Bush won his narrow reelection in large part due to ballot initiatives in 11 states to ban same sex marriage that drew social conservatives to the polls.

Most recently, during the 2016 election Donald Trump targeted white Christians who went from 54 percent of the US population to 43 percent in the previous eight years. During the same time momentous advancements ushered in our first black president, our first female presidential nominee by a major political party, and marriage equality. Those are significant shifts.

Navigating reactions to social progress can be as important as fighting for the gains in the first place. The current transition is ripe for division because it heightens the sense of loss of control over social and political priorities for those opposed to them. Wedge issue politics then succeeds because it plays on the fear of change and claims to provide a path to regain control.

To alter that reaction it is time to focus on underlying group motivations. A common understanding in negotiations is that groups take strong positions on issues, but to reach agreement you focus on their underlying needs. That is what opens the possibility for working together to create options that help both sides.

Many studies show that fear of racial and cultural change motivates voters -- Republican or Democrat -- to move to the right. Nostalgia grows for a previous order by race or gender. It is not surprising given our inherent preference for our own groups. Or the fact dominant groups typically control who gets jobs and whose history is taught.

Importantly, psychologists believe the ability to control culture and policy brings a sense of empowerment, security and recognition for the group and individual. Group security and recognition is the underlying need, and control of policy and culture is the way to achieve it.

At the same time, group empowerment, security, and recognition are at the core of what marginalized groups pursue as well. Identity politics is growing in this same period precisely because it provides a vehicle to achieve basic rights for people of color, women, the LGBTQ community, and immigrants. Identity politics is a basis for saying, your voice matters, your experience and history matters, and we will confront a social order that discriminates against you.

Through this lens, we need a strong focus on making each side feel recognized and empowered. There should not be a need to retreat into groups to secure fundamental needs. Instead there are three things all of us, including Congress, can do.

First, reframe the conversation away from zero-sum thinking where one group is empowered at the expense of another. Change does not need to be equated with insecurity, weakness or the inability to provide for your group.

Second, create a path for everyone, including those in once dominant groups, to be more active in the democratic process. Managing this transition means bolstering participation in decision-making and policy development. It is a form of protection and a guarantee of basic rights. New England offers examples, including the use of direct democracy with town meetings and local referenda. The Massachusetts legislature is considering devolving more revenue generation and control to the local level in a fair manner.

Third, demonstrate results that tackle head on systemic and symbolic sources of insecurity and powerlessness. Counter historic wrongs that continue to impact communities of color. Fight for the security of a job in areas ignored throughout the country, from inner cities to the Rust Belt and rural farmlands.

There is no silver bullet that will resolve our divisions. But stripped down to the basics of what motivates us, we get a glimpse of what unites us. And working together to meet underlying group needs might be a framework for dialogue in this country during a difficult moment of transition.

The impeachment vote is important and it will magnify divisive culture wars and wedge issue politics. Congress should also identify a basis for moving the country forward together.

Adam Hinds, a democrat, is a state senator representing Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin and Hampden districts.

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Impeachment and the retreat into groups (Guest viewpoint) - MassLive.com