As a think tank, we spend a lot of time discussing what free markets and limited government require to function well: property rights, the rule of law, sound fiscal policy, and regulatory restraint. These are the visible structures that support a society built on individual freedom and responsibility.

But beneath those structures is something less tangible and just as essential: civility.

Not surface-level politeness or avoiding disagreement. Real civility leads with humility, treats opponents with dignity, and allows for passionate dissent that refrains from personal attacks. It’s not a social nicety. It’s infrastructure. And right now, it’s eroding.

We build infrastructure because certain things can’t function without it. In the same way, self-governance depends on civility and civil discourse. Without it, the work of governing becomes harder, then dysfunctional, and eventually impossible.

Incivility isn’t just unpleasant. It’s inefficient.

In a purple state like Michigan, policy isn’t made only through formal processes. It depends on relationships, a recognition that opposing viewpoints bring value to crafting solutions, and a shared understanding that today’s opponent might be tomorrow’s partner. That foundation allows people to find common ground and actually move policy forward.

Things stop working when that foundation weakens — not in theory, but in practice. In a competitive political environment, citizens ultimately bear the consequences of a faulty system.

Every time civility gives way to contempt, we weaken the very conditions that make limited government and free markets possible.

For those of us who care about these principles, protecting the conditions that sustain them matters. We are not served by dysfunction. We are not served by a system where cooperation is impossible. We are served by a system that works well enough and trusts people enough that government doesn’t have to step in to solve every problem.

Unlike physical infrastructure, trust is not easy to rebuild once it’s gone. There’s no policy fix for that. It comes down to individual choices: how we engage, how we argue, and how we treat the people across the table.

If we want free markets and limited government to endure, we can’t ignore the conditions that make them possible.

Civility is one of them.

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