How People Perceive Political Incivility

Abstract

Politicians, journalists, and at times even scholars toss around the term “incivility” without carefully defining its meaning. Headlines may claim a campaign is uncivil without clearly explaining why. Politicians may call for civility without explicitly stating whose behavior needs to change. Surveys contain questions asking about incivility and democracy without providing a definition of incivility to respondents. Yet few have explored how individual citizens exposed to this language may understand the concept. This chapter will, first, provide an overview of theoretical approaches to conceptualizing incivility, largely from a communication and political science perspective. It will then make the case that it is also necessary to understand citizens’ perceptions of incivility. The chapter then summarizes the findings of a series of research studies that investigate (a) whether individuals’ perceptions of incivility align with theoretical conceptualizations, (b) whether partisan group identity influences those perceptions, and (c) whether asking citizens to provide their own examples of political incivility can offer novel approaches to understanding political incivility. The chapter closes with a discussion of the implications of citizens’ perceptions of incivility for scholars and practitioners.