Citizen Incivility Toward U.S. Presidential Candidates in the 2016 Election: She’s a Devious, Self-Indulgent, Manipulative Liar and He’s a Racist, Dishonest, Dangerous Deplorable

Joseph Gershtenson; Dennis L. Plane

doi:10.15174/remap.v13i25.290

Citizen Incivility Toward U.S. Presidential Candidates in the 2016 Election: She’s a Devious, Self-Indulgent, Manipulative Liar and He’s a Racist, Dishonest, Dangerous Deplorable

Authors

Joseph Gershtenson University of North Georgia
Dennis L. Plane Juniata College

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15174/remap.v13i25.290

Abstract

Much evidence suggests elite-level political incivility in U.S. politics, yet little research examines citizen-level incivility. We do so by examining responses to questions asking why citizens might vote against the 2016 presidential candidates. Uncivil responses stifle meaningful deliberation, for example by attacking the candidate’s character; civil responses simply express disagreement or dissatisfaction with the candidate. Democratic incivility toward Trump (often focused on his attitudes about women and minorities) was matched by Republican incivility toward Hillary Clinton (often focused on her gender). The fact that incivility was higher among those with greater media exposure suggests that citizens may model elite-level incivility. While civility outweighed incivility, our findings suggest a degree of incivility that may be normatively troubling for the health of U.S. democracy.

Author Biographies

Joseph Gershtenson, University of North Georgia

Joseph Gershtenson, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of North Georgia in Dahlonega, Georgia. His research focuses on American politics with emphases on political behavior and elections and his work has been published in numerous journals including Political Behavior, Political Research Quarterly, Social Science Quarterly, and the Journal of Political Science Education.

Dennis L. Plane, Juniata College

Dennis Plane, Ph.D., is Professor and Chair of the Politics Department at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania. He has published articles in several journals on topics that fall at the intersection of political behavior and institutions including political trust, authoritarianism, voter turnout, and voter registration.

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Citizen Incivility Toward U.S. Presidential Candidates in the 2016 Election: She’s a Devious, Self-Indulgent, Manipulative Liar and He’s a Racist, Dishonest, Dangerous Deplorable

Citizen Incivility Toward U.S. Presidential Candidates in the 2016 Election: She’s a Devious, Self-Indulgent, Manipulative Liar and He’s a Racist, Dishonest, Dangerous Deplorable

Authors

DOI:

Abstract

Author Biographies

Joseph Gershtenson, University of North Georgia

Dennis L. Plane, Juniata College

References

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