From Rush Limbaugh to Michael Moore, from Glenn Beck to Bill Maher and even from Jerry Moran to Todd Tiahrt, civility seems to be a rare commodity in political discourse these days. However, a professor at Kansas State is working on ways to increase civil discourse, while protecting voter’s ability to keep strong beliefs.
“People recognize that there is almost a total lack of civility in American politics right now, said David Procter, director of Kansas State University's Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy. "There's a contradiction, though. People recognize the lack of civility, and they claim they don't like it, but yet these same citizens get fired up and vote based on this outrageous talk."
Procter attributes this decline in civility to the rise of the always-on national news networks and the Internet.
“Due to the 24 hour news cycle, there’s a need to provide new news,” Procter said. “After a while, you run out of things. It gets personal. You also have instantaneous news, like blogs, Facebook and You Tube.”
Due to this instant coverage, and due to the fact that many partisans don’t like to see any kind of compromise or negotiation between rivals, there’s no incentive to tone down the rhetoric.
“It used to be that Democrats and Republicans could talk, say on the Senate or House floor, and a newspaper would pick it up and print it the next day. By that time it had already moved forward,” Procter said. “Today the bloggers get a hold of it and its all over the Internet.”
One solution Procter sees is citizens communicating in a civil manner, and demanding the same out of politicians and the media.
“If we can get together as citizens in a civil way and communicate, it’s more effective than having to absorb whatever politicians are putting out there,” Procter sad. “The point is there has to be a change in the way people talk about politics. When we're uncouth, we're not just defeating a politician, we're tearing at the fabric of democracy.”
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From Rush Limbaugh to Michael Moore, from Glenn Beck to Bill Maher and even from Jerry Moran to Todd Tiahrt, civility seems to be a rare commodity in political discourse these days. However, a professor at Kansas State is working on ways to increase civil discourse, while protecting voter’s ability to keep strong beliefs.
“People recognize that there is almost a total lack of civility in American politics right now, said David Procter, director of Kansas State University's Institute for Civic Discourse and Democracy. "There's a contradiction, though. People recognize the lack of civility, and they claim they don't like it, but yet these same citizens get fired up and vote based on this outrageous talk."
Procter attributes this decline in civility to the rise of the always-on national news networks and the Internet.
“Due to the 24 hour news cycle, there’s a need to provide new news,” Procter said. “After a while, you run out of things. It gets personal. You also have instantaneous news, like blogs, Facebook and You Tube.”
Due to this instant coverage, and due to the fact that many partisans don’t like to see any kind of compromise or negotiation between rivals, there’s no incentive to tone down the rhetoric.
“It used to be that Democrats and Republicans could talk, say on the Senate or House floor, and a newspaper would pick it up and print it the next day. By that time it had already moved forward,” Procter said. “Today the bloggers get a hold of it and its all over the Internet.”
One solution Procter sees is citizens communicating in a civil manner, and demanding the same out of politicians and the media.
“If we can get together as citizens in a civil way and communicate, it’s more effective than having to absorb whatever politicians are putting out there,” Procter sad. “The point is there has to be a change in the way people talk about politics. When we're uncouth, we're not just defeating a politician, we're tearing at the fabric of democracy.”
