Is There Linkage Between State Citizen Civility & State Legislative Civility?

This study examines the linkage between state citizen civility and the extent to which similar levels of civility are expressed in their state legislatures. Specifically, we explore whether the perceived level of citizen incivility and sociability in a state predicts the level of legislative incivility in that same state. Our results indicate that while there seems to be an overall linkage between citizen civility and sociability and legislative civility in each state, some states are notable outliers that deviate from this overall pattern. We explore possible intervening effects on this linkage that can account for outliers to this relationship, including institutional arrangements and political culture.