Popular and scholarly arguments state that uncivil discourse is bad for democracy because it hampers political trust and sharpens polarization. These same scholars see uncivil discourse as contrary to a good democratic society. However, their arguments could be overstated because incivility may be so contextual that elites can frame certain peoples and actions as uncivil for purely political benefit, and because incivility can prompt increased political participation among marginalized peoples. My dissertation draws on a series of survey experiments and a content analysis to assess how individuals’ perceptions of incivility vary and whether exposure to incivility encourages individuals to participate or de-polarize. The first study of my dissertation uses a conjoint experiment to focus on how people’s perceptions of what constitutes uncivil speech is subjective to their own biases and inclinations. The second study of my dissertation uses a content analysis of over a decade of cable news coverage of protests, finding that what political actors consider uncivil depends significantly on the political partisanship and ideology of the protesters. Finally, my last empirical chapter of this dissertation studies how Black Americans prompted to consider the rich tradition of uncivil and disruptive incivility in the Black community will subsequently state higher intentions to participate politically. Generally, what the dissertation finds is that incivility in American politics both reflects and reinforces American power structures: who has power, who wants power, and what they will do to maintain or obtain power, respectively. Political actors with power will seek to frame their political opponents as uncivil, often in bad faith, in order to maintain their power. Marginalized peoples will pursue political capital through disruptive, often uncivil, protests designed to obtain power. From this dissertation, I offer a more complicated, nuanced understanding of incivility in American politics beyond its established, negative consequences.

Creator

• Gubitz, Samuel Robert

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-s7b4-bj25

Subject

• Political science
• Communication

Language

• en

Alternate Identifier

• etdadmin_upload_825249
• http://dissertations.umi.com/northwestern:15605

Keyword

• participation
• perceptions
• incivility
• protest

Date created

• 2021-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright