Overview

Winner of the Doris Graber Award, American Political Science Association, 2013 Democracy is, by its very nature, often rude. But there are limits to how uncivil we should be. In the 2010 edition of Rude Democracy, Susan Herbst explored the ways we discuss public policy, how we treat each other as we do, and how we can create a more civil national culture. She used the examples of Sarah Palin and Barack Obama to illustrate her case. She also examined how young people come to form their own attitudes about civility and political argument. In a new preface for this 2020 paperback edition, the author connects her book to our current highly contentious politics and what it means for the future of democratic argument.

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9781439903360

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In this thought-provoking text, Susan Herbst tackles the role of civility in public discourse.... Throughout Rude Democracy, Herbst identifies potential empirical research topics and unmet scholarly needs into which a new generation of scholars can profitably delve. -Perspectives on Politics Herbst's contention that incivility and civility should be viewed as strategic assets is potentially game changing and a contribution that all future scholarly work on incivility cannot ignore. -Journal of Politics [A] valuable, fair-minded book. It is a contribution to the literature of history, ethics, and public affairs, and it could easily be used to stimulate lively classroom conversations-the kind that spill into the halls when the hour has ended. -Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly

Rude Democracy is a smart and thoughtful discussion of a thorny problem. Herbst's focus on the 'strategic' uses of civility and incivility makes good theoretical and empirical sense. Further, her call for educating Americans about how to debate is worthy and something she may well be able to implement. That Herbst does not add to the many shrill claims that civility is on the decline is refreshing. Her book is not trying to put old wine in a new bottle. Instead, she gets people to think about this topic in new ways. Herbst's engaging conclusion provides a compelling capstone to the general argument. In short, I am a fan of this book. Herbst's voice will become a valued one in this important debate. -John Geer, Vanderbilt University Susan Herbst's keen analysis of political rhetoric during the Obama years defuses prevailing alarmist warnings about the grim consequences of heated dialogue. She presents persuasive arguments that demonstrate the usefulness of civility while still acknowledging its serious drawbacks. Rude Democracy also features important proposals for improving the U.S. political climate. It deserves wide attention from political leaders, their staffs, and their publics. -Doris A. Graber, University of Illinois at Chicago Rude Democracy is must reading for anyone trying to make sense of the current incivility in partisan politics and its implications for democracy in the United States. Herbst offers a fresh perspective that lays out the downside of incivility but also shows that there are opportunities to use it to move policy debates forward in a positive way that will benefit citizenship and democratic politics. The book provides a starting point for those seeking to do this. -Robert Shapiro, Columbia University

[A] valuable, fair-minded book. It is a contribution to the literature of history, ethics, and public affairs, and it could easily be used to stimulate lively classroom conversations-the kind that spill into the halls when the hour has ended. -Journalism and Mass Communication Quarterly Herbst's contention that incivility and civility should be viewed as strategic assets is potentially game changing and a contribution that all future scholarly work on incivility cannot ignore. -Journal of Politics In this thought-provoking text, Susan Herbst tackles the role of civility in public discourse.... Throughout Rude Democracy, Herbst identifies potential empirical research topics and unmet scholarly needs into which a new generation of scholars can profitably delve. -Perspectives on Politics

Author Information

Susan Herbst is Professor of Political Science and President Emeritus at the University of Connecticut. She is author of many books and articles on American politics including Numbered Voices: How Opinion Polling Has Shaped American Politics, Politics at the Margin: Historical Studies of Public Expression outside the Mainstream and Reading Public Opinion: How Political Actors View the Democratic Process. Previously, she was Chief Academic Officer for the University System of Georgia, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Temple University, and Chair of the Department of Political Science at Northwestern University.

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