Executive Summary
This report presents findings on “democratic resignation”—the idea that American democracy is deteriorating, and very little can be done to stop it. We conducted two large surveys: the first in September 2022 (N = 3,516), a few months before the 2022 midterm elections, and the second in August 2024 (N = 2,000), a few months before the 2024 presidential election.
Feelings of resignation to democratic threats normalize the erosion of democratic norms and institutions, making it easier for authoritarian practices to take hold. Are Americans concerned that the country faces existential threats to democracy? Do they believe the decline of democracy is inevitable?
We find that, although a majority of Americans are extremely concerned, they are not resigned to the decline of democracy. Furthermore, Americans are less concerned about the future of democracy in 2024 than they were in 2022. However, there are significant differences between the political parties. In both years, Republicans were substantially more likely than Democrats to believe that America was heading toward the end of democracy. While both parties expressed similar levels of political efficacy in 2022, Democrats were more likely to believe that something could be done to stop the decline of democracy in 2024.
Key findings include:
- Americans are worried about the future of democracy in America: Large shares of Americans believe that democracy is under threat in the United States.
- Americans are more optimistic than they were 2 years ago: A majority of respondents believed that America was heading towards the end of democracy in 2022. That number dropped by roughly 14 percentage points by 2024.
- Most Americans do not believe that we are powerless to stop any decline : Only 22 percent of Americans agreed with the statement that “very little can be done to stop American democracy from ending in the next decade.”
- Americans are not resigned: Only a small percentage of Americans agreed with both statements, indicating feelings of democratic resignation.
- Republicans are more likely to be worried about the future of democracy: Republicans are more likely to be worried about the future of democracy than Democrats. While both parties have seen a decrease in the percentage of people who believe that democracy is ending, the decrease is more pronounced among Democrats.
- Republicans are increasingly resigned: Republicans increasingly believe that very little can be done to stop American democracy from ending in the next decade.
Main results
This the 7th in a series of monthly reports on the state of partisan animosity conducted by the Polarization Research Lab (PRL) at Dartmouth College and University of Pennsylvania. This report looks at 3516 interviews conducted in September 2022 and 2000 interviews conducted in August 2024.
Americans are worried about the future of democracy, but are not resigned
Large shares of Americans in both 2022 and 2024 agreed with the statement that America is heading toward the end of democracy. However, the percentage of Americans who agreed with this statement dropped substantially between 2022 and 2024. When we first asked this question, 58 percent of Americans agreed, but by 2024, only 44 percent did.
While Americans are clearly worried, a majority disagree with the statement that “very little can be done to stop American democracy from ending in the next decade.” In 2022, 57 percent of Americans disagreed with this statement, and by 2024, 55 percent disagreed.
Being worried about the future of democracy is not necessarily related to voting, but being resigned is.
When we examine the relationship between the importance of voting and the belief that America is heading toward the end of democracy, we find that the two are not necessarily related. In 2022, 60 percent of Americans who said voting was important also agreed that America was heading toward the end of democracy, compared to 56 percent of those who said voting was not important. By 2024, however, far fewer people who said voting was important agreed with the statement (45 percent), while the percentage of those who said voting was not important and agreed with the statement dropped only slightly (to 51 percent).
However, people who are resigned to the end of democracy are less likely to believe that voting is important. In 2022, 19.3 percent of Americans who agreed with the statement that very little can be done to stop American democracy from ending in the next decade also said that voting was important, while 47.4 percent of those who agreed with the statement did not think voting was important. These numbers were similar in 2024.
Republicans are far more concerned about the future of democracy, but only slightly more resigned.
In both 2022 and 2024, Republicans were substantially more concerned about the future of democracy than Democrats or independents. In 2022, 65 percent of Republicans agreed with the statement that America was heading toward the end of democracy, while 54 percent of both Democrats and independents agreed. By 2024, the gap between Democrats and Republicans had increased significantly, with 55 percent of Republicans agreeing with the statement, compared to only 36 percent of Democrats. Democrats are increasingly optimistic.
However, feelings of resignation were not as polarized, although the gap grew in 2024. In 2022, 60 percent of both Democrats and Republicans disagreed with the statement that very little can be done to stop American democracy from ending in the next decade. By 2024, however, the gap between the two groups had widened, with 63 percent of Republicans disagreeing with the statement, compared to only 50.5 percent of Democrats.
Appendix
About The Polarization Research Lab and our Data
- The Polarization Research Lab works to understand and strengthen democracy by conducting rigorous science, producing public goods, and training the next generation of scholars. The Lab is led by PIs Sean J. Westwood at Dartmouth College and Yphtach Lelkes at the Annenberg School for Communication at University of Pennsylvania.
- PRL studies the political attitudes of Americans and the behavior of elected officials. Our goals are to:
- Dispel rumors and show hard data on the democratic attitudes of citizens. We conduct the largest continuous tracking poll on YouGov, collecting 1,000 interviews of Americans a week.
- Identify the behavior of elected officials that contributes to toxic polarization.
- Produce publicly available reports and tools to help stakeholders advance responses to toxic polarization that are based in data and evidence. PRL works directly with journalists, democracy practitioners, and policymakers.
PRL Is Supported by
- The Charles Koch Foundation
- The Hewlett Foundation
- The Knight Foundation
- The Templeton World Charity Foundation
- The Carnegie Corporation
- New Pluralists
Survey Questions: Resignation to Backsliding
- Do you agree or disagree with the following: America is heading toward the end of democracy, where free and fair elections will no longer occur.
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree
- Do you agree or disagree with the following: Very little can be done to stop American democracy from ending in the next decade.
- Strongly disagree
- Disagree
- Neither agree nor disagree
- Agree
- Strongly agree