Uncivil Political Discourse Analysis

Incivility is not a new topic in American politics, in fact, it has continued to get worse over the years. In “The Negative Consequences of Uncivil Political Discourse” Sandy Maisel states that the “lack of civility has led to the decline in citizen approval of trust in our institutions of government” (Maisel 405). Maisel discusses the impact of incivility and how it can sway the public opinion to doubt the way politics are being handled. He discussing about how uncivil outbursts are not what cause concern, it is the lack of action, since politicians use this as a strategy to obtain more supporters and votes (Maisel 405). Maisel believes those who pursue the common good do so in a civil manner because civility is necessary to have an effective …show more content…
There is strong belief to avoid the middle ground and compromise due to the increasing incivility in political discourse. Competing interests, egos, and ideologies all make for a contentious environment in democratic societies and lead to a level of incivility (Foxman #). However, the biggest problem that seems to arise from uncivil discourse is the way it completely changes elections and the effectiveness of governance (Massaro #). As politicians have been using uncivil discourse as a tactic to gain votes and raise money no common ground can be reached (Massaro #). The problem of uncivil discourse has been ignored within politics because the only common ground that can be reached is the idea that uncivil discourse is a tactic. While using this tactic many politicians are not just laying out the facts for voters to see, they are using personal attacks to make the other side look bad. This has created a wave of concern for voters because they do not understand how they are suppose to see situations like this. Whereas most politicians know that this is just a tactic to win, therefore they do not take these outbursts very seriously even though it is a respect issue within …show more content…
Leaders need to take the problem seriously so the they can be properly educated on the matters to improve their tactics but also the incivility within politics. With such problems existing in politics it makes the public second guess their opinions, and leads to a negative outcome. Even though majority of the public believe everything should be handled in a civil manner it is hard to do so when you have a bad influence. The uncivil outbursts that occur within politics is a mirror image of what occurs on social media in heated debates. In the end it is hard to trust a government who has corrupt politics that leads to a corrupt public as