Civility as a Public Opinion: Theorizing Civility and Discussing an Attitude Survey-Based Research Agenda

Abstract

Focusing on the normative dimension of civil society requires an explicit reference to the neglected notion of civility, which is a quasi non-existent concept in empirical sociology and beyond. To address this shortcoming, at first the article theorizes about civility as a disposition realized in individual attitudes. This conceptualization implicates a research agenda for civil society studies that transcends the organizational level. Second, a literature review contrasts research traditions which understand civility solely as good manners in interpersonal behaviour to civility as a public opinion: Civility is defined through attitudes and beliefs regarding a hypothetical universalizing community. In this context, the article discusses a Bourdieusian critique of macro-sociological investigations based on the aggregation of micro-level data (‘Public opinion does not exist’). Finally, I demonstrate that an explicit construction of the object under investigation implies specific research methods, which explains why and how large-scale attitude surveys play an important role in operationalizing the sociological understanding of civility proposed in this article.