(CNSNews.com) - The American public must hold politicians accountable for increasingly uncivil behavior between Democrats and Republicans in government, two elected officials said Monday, arguing that their colleagues will not change without prodding from voters.

Citing talk radio, bloggers and the 24-hour cable news cycle along with the success of negative campaigning, Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), said it was up to the public to demand a return to civility in Washington.

"As long as people continue to react to it [negative advertising], political consultants are going to continue to use it," Boehner said during a discussion hosted by the University of Pennsylvania, the Brookings Institution and the American Enterprise Institute.

Both Lieberman and Boehner said a lack of civility between Democrats and Republicans makes it harder for Congress to get anything done. "There is no conversation," Boehner said. "We're talking past each other."

"There's not much real debate in the Senate anymore," said Lieberman, who came under harsh criticism from Democrats during the 2006 election for his support of the Iraq war.

He called the power held by the two major political parties "one of the great weaknesses of our country."

"The disease is partisanship," Lieberman said, "and the lack of civility is one of the symptoms of the disease."

He said the American people want politicians to return to civility, evidenced by his general election victory as an independent in the 2006 U.S. Senate race in Connecticut.

Lieberman, who has lost the Democratic primary to anti-war candidate Ned Lamont, campaigned in the general election as a bridge-builder, promising to work with both Democrats and Republicans. He caucuses with the Democratic Party.

While Lieberman and Boehner both decried what they called the lack of civility and understanding between the parties, they both also emphasized the importance of strong and passionate disagreement.

"American politics has always been rough and tumble right from the beginning," Lieberman said, cautioning against "a danger of being too civil."

"It's not improper that we speak strongly," he said. "We've got to watch the ad hominem attacks."

"We can have a difference of opinion without being miserable to one another," Boehner said, suggesting that his colleagues must "find ways of disagreeing without being disagreeable."

Boehner criticized the media for ignoring the "95 percent of the time" in which he said members of the two parties do work together well. "It's only news when we're butting heads," he said.

Boehner also took the opportunity to take a shot at Democrats on the war in Iraq. "My colleagues on the other side are looking at the past election, looking at the future election, and looking at public opinion polls," he said, implying that Democrats are taking a political rather than principled position on the war.

"There are some things more important than the outcome of the next election," Boehner added.

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