HOW TO HEAL THE NATION

How is America ever going to begin to heal after this divisive election?

Every presidential contest leaves scars, especially as the margin of victory has become ever thinner in recent years. The 2000 election, after all, took weeks to decide.

Still, the wounds seem deeper this year. If Donald Trump loses, what happens to his supporters, many of them angry white men who already believe they have been left behind? And if Hillary Clinton loses, what happens to her supporters, including many frustrated minorities who feel under assault and women who had hoped to break a huge glass ceiling?

Elections don’t cause divisions as much as focus attention on them and prompt the question: Where as a nation do we go from here?

To probe that question, USA TODAY asked reporters on four continents to write about elections that have split their countries, and then to speak to a participant in the events to offer suggestions on how a nation heals — or why it doesn’t.

In some cases, they suggested what the U. S. should do, starting the morning after. In others, they suggested what we should not do.

Dialogue is great, but action — some painful, such as conceding an election or facing an ugly past — is needed, too. Here is their advice and cautionary tales. One overarching theme: If we don’t do something about the chasm, it will eat at the core of what makes us a nation. The comments have been edited for space.