Twelfth Global Studies Conference

Abstract

This past summer a French government spokesperson said that Europe and the U.S. “do not share the same model of civilization; clearly we don’t share certain values.” (The Times, London-June 21, 2018) There is not only a clash of civilizations between Europe and the U.S. but also within the U.S. The political values of our nation are expressed by the values of our political culture but no longer do the large majority of Americans ascribe to our political culture’s values and we have a clash of civilizations within this country which gets expressed by the political incivility we see. A clash of civilizations is a clash between different political cultures and we are experiencing that in the U.S. today. Our national institutions rest on shared values that we call our political culture. These values in the past provided a basis for unity over political basics. When there is no longer agreement on these shared values, as there isn’t today, our political institutions don’t work. Rules can’t cover all aspects of political behaviors. Freedom allows for much variety. Freedom can lead to diversity and disunity. When we freely embrace our political culture we are held together and we fill in the gaps in our rules. When we no longer embrace our political culture, turmoil and incivility ensue. This paper examines the relationship of the decline in the U.S. of acceptance of the basic values of our political culture to the rise and virulence of political incivility.