The recent debate in Washington over increasing the national debt ceiling has brought the issue of civility front and center again. Although Congress was able to hammer out an eleventh-hour legislative compromise, the process was anything but civil. Noticeably lacking in the debate was any semblance of mutual respect for diverse ideas or meaningful consensus. Instead competing factions used the political process to vilify each other and try to score political points.
According to a Washington Post/Pew Research Center poll released on Monday, 75 percent of the people polled were disturbed by the behavior of politicians during the budget negotiation process. The top five words used to describe the process were ridiculous, disgust, stupid, frustrating, and poor. Other adjectives included terrible, disappointing, and childish. Interestingly, the dissatisfaction expressed in the poll was consistent among people of all political persuasions. Michael Muskal of the Los Angeles Times noted that “the only good thing about this poll was that the battle seems to have brought people together.”
What affect does political incivility have on people? Bryan Gervais argues that political incivility “breeds distrust” and “substantially lower views of opposing sides” (see The Effects of Incivility in News Media on Political Deliberation) According to Gervais people exposed to uncivil media tend to “mirror that incivility.” When uncivil political discourse receives extensive media coverage, as was the case for the debt ceiling debates, it essentially “legitimizes the use of uncivil language and behavior.”
Perhaps the incivility in Washington contributes to our own civility struggles. Are we mirroring the behavior of our elected leaders and political pundits? With so many American outraged by the dysfunctional political conduct in Washington, this is a good time to reflect on what it means to be civil, especially in high-pressure situations. Can meaningful consensus be achieved when people with drastically different ideologies work together? Clearly the model of leadership we witnessed over the past weeks has left many wanting to see less mudslinging and more civility.
Kent M. Weeks
Kent M. Weeks
