In our society we know that we must have civilized behaviors in order to survive and maintain the core functions of society. There must be collaboration between the different elements of society. According to the Cambridge dictionary a civilized society is, "A civilized society or country has a well developed system of government, culture, and way of life and that treats the people who live there fairly"(Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.). It means our institutions and systems are in alignment with their stated purpose.
In any society there are civilized and uncivilized elements. When the uncivilized elements overcome the civilized elements we are out of balance and may begin to see things like civil defaults of institutions. Americans expect a civilized society and while we may have uproars from time to time (i.e. capital riots) we have shown thus far that we eventually settle into a shared understanding (i.e. civilized society).
That isn't always the case in every place as different values start to supersede national values (This usually happens when distorted values make their way into official positions so the natural checks and balances between the independence of institutions is unduly influenced by an embedded network who hold alternative/counter values. Embedded as a word is used more casually here to denote a group with an identity that has its own social structure and values that influences/distorts institutional purpose.) We have room for improvement and not recognizing that room for improvement means we compound our future problems (Small continuous adjustments today are easier than wide adjustments tomorrow. That becomes especially important in institutional management improvements toward national/philosophical goals. In other words, when we stay focused on working toward the central purpose of democracy's existence and its philosophical logical system we will be fulfilling that national purpose.). Keep in mind that people who challenge the system to be better are actually doing the right thing because they are protecting the system from itself (It lets us see areas where improvement should happen to keep the whole system from becoming sickly. Continuously improvement is necessary for business, for people, and for nations. If your not improving then your backsliding.)
Imagine for a moment a society (i.e. an isolated village) where unwritten rules, laws and codes supersede the official rules. Where clans and social networks have created social hierarchies much like we may find in rigid immobile societies where there are no movements between these different societal stratums. We would find other markers such as slack investment over a period of time, lost population, general decline in economic well being, etc. as secondary consequences to the micro choices derived rom those implicit values. If we researched places that are declining we may find higher levels of nepotism, corruption, or mismanagement. (Values that led to basic "trust" made Democracy and Capitalism build some of the strongest nations in the world. We now find our system challenged and should think about what we can do to make our society stronger, better, more able, and resilient. We can look on the economic side but we should also look on the civil side and its impact on human capital and national development.)
The laws, rules and even morality change within this entity based upon being within a good old boys network. Where the rules of a mutually shared social contract (i.e. Constitution) have been discounted they are replaced by unwritten rules and codes (Its possible to go back and analyze value statements of those who adhere to those unwritten rules). For example one could justify aggression against those not in the network based on racial, religious, and ethnic differences as the rules would not apply (This is often called wink and nod.).
That would be a village that nudged toward incivility based on the definition and would need to correct itself (either by itself or by outside intervention). Strong nations can bring and encourage those local systems tipping toward incivility back to the world of civility. That would require commitment by our politicians and institutional leaders to focus on building and pushing democracy to its next universal state of existence. All of our villages should point in the same direction if we hope to achieve our stated national goals.
This is my opinion. Democracy is a commitment and way of life. Much of the problems we face in terms of crime, competitiveness, etc. are often based in how we treat each other on a human to human exchange/"trust" level. It is based in our realized beliefs that transcend the differences between peoples. Civility is about building stronger universal societies where the rules apply fairly to everyone and in turn are rewarded through higher economic performance and social cohesion. (I can't really say apply the same to everyone but can say apply fairly to everyone. Each case has its own merits and therefore having the same approach to everything doesn't really work. Let us just think in terms of "rules apply fairly". i.e. moral conscious.)
Cambridge Dictionary. (n.d.). Civilized. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved November 12, 2022, from https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/civilized
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