Our August 2017 survey results demonstrate sharply increasing concern over the past month, amplified by the events in Charlottesville. From July to August, ratings worsened on every dimension, with especially large shifts on civil violence and civil liberties.
Democracy experts see American political behavior in 2017 as firmly outside the norm for consolidated democracies, although they remain divided on how much this threatens democratic stability. …
Comparing the U.S. to other countries provides useful context. American democracy rates as considerably worse than democracy in Canada and the United Kingdom and slightly worse than Poland and India. This is highly consistent with seeing American democracy as shifting downward in quality, but not yet threatened with near-term breakdown. CONT.
Michael K. Miller (GWU), Authoritarian Warning Survey
