There has been widespread concern about the potential for democratic decline in the United States in the wake of the contested 2020 presidential election. Using new polling data, we find that 1) the belief that there was fraud in the 2020 election is associated with modestly lower support among Americans for core democratic values, but overall, support for these values is robust, and 2) beliefs about election fraud shape how Americans support democratic values in practice, with those who believe in fraud supporting reforms that would curtail voting rights. It seems that the risk of democratic decline in the United States does not stem from a change in core values but from the way in which these values are put into practice. CONTINUED
Peter Hanson, Danielle Lussier & Georgia Rawhouser-Mylet (Grinnell), LSE USAPP