Trump planted a ticking DACA time-bomb in September and announced that Congress had six months to defuse it with a permanent legislative fix. Americans overwhelmingly want a fix. 87 percent think Dreamers should be allowed to stay in the U.S. Among Republicans, two-thirds support a path to citizenship. In an […] Read more »
White Democrats Have Gotten Way More Liberal On Identity Issues
The ongoing fight over funding the government — which may finally be on the verge of a long-term resolution — has centered in large part on immigration. Democrats want a replacement for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, and if they settle for a deal without one, they’re likely […] Read more »
Trump’s Tool Kit Does Not Include the Constitution
Since before President Trump was elected — and with greater frequency afterward — historians, political scientists and journalists have wondered how autocratic our democracy might become. Here is some evidence of how the public sees it. Bright Line Watch, a consortium of political scientists formed after the 2016 election, just […] Read more »
American Democracy After Trump’s First Year
In January 2018, as Donald Trump completed his first year as president, Bright Line Watch conducted its fourth expert survey on the state of U.S. democracy. At the same time, we conducted an identical public survey – our second – with a nationally representative sample of Americans. This approach allows […] Read more »
Firmly outside the norm for consolidated democracies
Our survey results between December 2017 and January 2018 demonstrate mixed results, with some threat ratings improving and others worsening. From November to January, ratings improved on all six dimensions of democratic performance, reversing the deterioration from October to November. However, democracy experts still see American political behavior in 2017-18 […] Read more »
Conservative-Leaning States Drop From 44 to 39
While all 50 states were right-leaning as recently as 2010, the number of net-conservative states was 44 in 2016 and dropped to 39 in 2017, with Rhode Island, California, Oregon, Maryland and Washington all scoring as net-liberal for the first time. CONT. Lydia Saad, Gallup Read more »