Punching Up, Talking Down: Australian citizens perceptions of incivility toward political authorities on social media.

Democracy across the world is in decline. (Nord et al., 2024) Factors such as decreasing trust and confidence in democratic government (2025 McKinnon Index), as well as increasing polarisation and radicalisation (Bruns et al, 2024; McCoy & Somer, 2019), are often pointed to as contributing to the rise of authoritarianism. However, a range of beliefs, attitudes and behaviour – such as political disaffection and incivility – could be considered, in many cases, to precede anti-system sentiment and action. This paper analyses original qualitative data from semi-structured interviews with politically disaffected (Torcal & Montero, 2006) Australian citizens who self-report having been uncivil in political discussions on social media. It asks how citizens themselves to interpret the intent of uncivil expression, particularly as it is directed at political actors and authorities. Is it primarily reactionary venting and emotional release, or is it understood as a strategic form of political action – for example, legitimate protest, the application of political pressure, an attempt to mobilise allies or attract attention to a claim? (Boyd, 2006; Delmas, 2018; Edyvane, 2017; Papacharissi, 2004) As social media increasingly dominates the information environment, this study offers insights into why and how incivility is perpetrated in political discussion online, as opposed to through formal channels of engagement. Drawing on political psychology, sociology and communication, as well as social norm and justice theories, this paper operationalises established typologies of political incivility (Bentivegna and Rega, 2022; Brooks & Geer, 2007; Chen, 2017; Coe, Kenski & Rains, 2014; Muddiman, 2017; Sapiro, 1999) to examine the relational dynamics between citizens and political authorities playing out on social media. In considering political incivility from this perspective, this paper aims to contribute to understandings about the significance and interplay between communication on social media and individual citizens’ perceptions of political power, processes and outcomes in Australian democracy. It is hoped this will contribute to the scholarship on political incivility, and its connection to democratic backsliding, more broadly, especially in democracies underpinned by British communication norms. Further, this paper’s socially-constructivist qualitative design also contributes “thick” (Geertz, 1973) detail to a field dominated by quantitative and experimental research.