The Perception of Law and Order Propaganda in Democracies: Evidence from the US

• In Event: Racial Justice

Abstract

Messaging in authoritarian regimes regularly features propaganda meant to signal government strength and prevent protests. The effect of similar law and order messages in democracies, however, is poorly understood. Can they also project strength and deter protests? Or does authoritarian-style propaganda in democracies backfire? This study leverages a survey experiment to test the perception of the Trump administration’s use of law and order propaganda during the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests. Using a representative sample of the U.S. adult voter population we illustrate how the perception of these messages differs across partisan lines: law and order messaging effectively communicates government strength to both government supporters and opponents, albeit to a lesser degree. Opponents, however, perceive such messaging as inappropriate and it generates a backlash in terms of increased willingness to protest. This paper thus contributes to the growing literature on authoritarian information control, polarization in U.S. politics, and democratic backsliding.

Authors

• Philipp Lutscher, University of Oslo

• Karsten Donnay, University of Zurich