Civic actors treat political silence as a positive virtue, not cowardice

Evidence

Like the volunteers, the mayor treated attention to such difficult problems as a breach of etiquette. Political silence was not at all a principle of laziness or cowardice; it was considered a positive good. Avoiding the image that the town was racist was the same as avoiding racism, they thought. — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 295

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the chapter’s core mechanism: political avoidance practiced as etiquette and virtue, not apathy.
• XREF: connects to: Civic volunteers suppress political worry publicly despite private obsession with it — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 285; Volunteers themselves restrict political talk to preserve their civic faith — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 192; Volunteers silence political discussion to preserve their can-do optimism — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics: how Americans…, 204

Broader Connections

• Volunteers themselves restrict political talk to preserve their civic faith #exemplifies (0.90) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 192
• Volunteers silence political discussion to preserve their can-do optimism #exemplifies (0.90) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 204