Democracy and the "Other": Drivers of Anti-Democratic Norms in the United States

• In Event: Poster Session: Public Opinion & Ideas, Knowledge and Politics
  In Poster Session: Poster Session: Public Opinion

Abstract

Since the end of WWII, scholars have assumed that once democracy is consolidated, it persists (Linz & Stephan, 1996). The current political environment, however, begs the question: can democracies, even long-established ones, break down? Recent studies caution that erosion of public support for key democratic norms and institutions has been developing in the US and Europe with scholars finding an unexpected degree of openness to nondemocratic alternatives. What causes people’s cynicism towards the value of democracy?
Answering this question is undoubtedly complex and includes discussion of several factors. In my research, I focus on one factor that I believe to be the key variable, the role of intergroup dynamics. The literature on racism and ethnic competition focused on explaining the emergence of negative out-group attitudes among dominant groups, as well as how this affects their policy preferences and attitudes towards political institutions. Yet, the role of intergroup relations as a factor in the emergence of support for anti-democratic norms has not been directly investigated.
This study examines if and under what conditions dominant groups within a democratic public come to support anti-democratic norms. Here this question is addressed with six datasets. Using data from the ANES (2016), Democracy Fund Voters Study Group (2018), and American Institutional Confidence Poll (2018) in the first phase; and three survey experiments (2018) in the second phase, I test symbolic threat form outgroups as the driver of support for anti-democratic norms. Findings provide supportive evidence of a causal relationship between the symbolic threat from outgroups and support for anti-democratic norms among whites in the U.S.

Author

• Beyza Ekin Buyuker, University of Illinois at Chicago