Racial Prejudice, Xenophobia and the Erosion of Democracy in the United States

• In Event: Democratic Backsliding and Contracting Minority Suffrage

Abstract

Studies of prejudice have documented that racial prejudice and xenophobia are key drivers of white Americans’ political judgments. However, this research has not been extended to regime-level norms, such as political tolerance and other principles of democracy. The political tolerance literature documents that despite high support for democracy, there is instability in Americans’ embrace of specific democratic norms. This literature has identified various correlates of support for anti-democratic norms but has limited engagement with the scholarship on racial and ethnic prejudice. This study bridges the gap between the two theories by explaining why we should expect a relationship between out-group prejudice and waning support for democratic norms via four priming experiments. We suggest that the observed erosion in democratic norms partly stems from intergroup factors and may be weakening as out-group hostility strengthens in the U.S.

Author

• Beyza Ekin Buyuker, Indiana University-Bloomington