Ethnic antagonism erodes Republicans’ commitment to democracy
Open accessAbstract
Significance: Growing partisan polarization and democratic “backsliding” in various parts of the world have raised concerns about the attachment of ordinary Americans to democratic institutions and procedures. I find that substantial numbers of Republicans endorse statements contemplating violations of key democratic norms, including respect for the law and for the outcomes of elections and eschewing the use of force in pursuit of political ends. The strongest predictor by far of these antidemocratic attitudes is ethnic antagonism—especially concerns about the political power and claims on government resources of immigrants, African-Americans, and Latinos. The strong tendency of ethnocentric Republicans to countenance violence and lawlessness, even prospectively and hypothetically, underlines the significance of ethnic conflict in contemporary US politics.
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Bartels (2020) finds that substantial numbers of Republicans endorse statements contemplating violations of key democratic norms, including respect for the law and for the outcomes of elections and eschewing the use of force in pursuit of political ends.
“Bartels (2020, 22752), for instance, finds that ' substantial numbers of Republicans endorse statements contemplating violations of key democratic norms, including respect for the law and for the outcomes of elections and eschewing the use of force in pursuit of political ends '”
From Laboratories of Democratic Backsliding (2023) · cites this paper as Bartels 2020
Bartels (2020) finds that the strongest predictor by far of these antidemocratic attitudes is ethnic antagonism, especially concerns about the political power and claims on government resources of immigrants, African-Americans, and Latinos.
“and that ' [t]he strongest predictor by far of these antidemocratic attitudes is ethnic antagonism -especially concerns about the political power and claims on government resources of immigrants, African-Americans, and Latinos. '”
From Laboratories of Democratic Backsliding (2023) · cites this paper as Bartels 2020
Republicans who express higher levels of ethnic antagonism exhibit more opposition to democratic norms, including agreeing that strong leaders should sometimes bend rules and that it is hard to trust election results.
“Bartels (2020) provides similar evidence of antidemocratic attitudes among Republicans such that those who express higher levels of ethnic antagonism (e.g., believing there are unfair government resources afforded to immigrants, believing there is discrimination against White people, having negative attitudes toward those on welfare) exhibit more opposition to democratic norms, including agreeing”
From How to study democratic backsliding (2024) · cites this paper as Bartels (2020)
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Research works printed but not linked: 10
- [3]A. Przeworski, Crises of Democracy, (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
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Cited by
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Laboratories of Democratic Backsliding
GRUMBACH, J. M. (2023) · American Political Science Review · doi:10.1017/s0003055422000934 · Cited by 135 · see citing works
Why voters who value democracy participate in democratic backsliding
Braley, A., Lenz, G. S., Adjodah, D., Rahnama, H., & Pentland, A. (2023) · Nature Human Behaviour · doi:10.1038/s41562-023-01594-w · Cited by 138 · see citing works
White Racial Solidarity and Opposition to American Democracy
Jardina, A., & Mickey, R. (2022) · The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science · doi:10.1177/00027162211069730 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
How to study democratic backsliding
Druckman, J. N. (2024) · Political Psychology · doi:10.1111/pops.12942 · Cited by 56 · see citing works
- Authors
- Bartels, L. M.
- Affiliations
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Bartels, Larry M.
- ORCID
- Bartels, Larry M.
- Venue
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
- Publisher
- National Academy of Sciences
- Published
- 2020-08-31
- Volume
- 117
- Issue
- 37
- Pages
- 22752-22759
- ISSN
- 0027-8424 (ISSN-L)
- 1091-6490
- PMC
- PMC7502764
- OpenAlex
- W3082280944
- Cited by
- 222
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 37 · 2025: 42 · 2024: 36 · 2023: 33 · 2022: 48 · 2021: 24 · 2020: 2
- FWCI
- 92.38
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Electoral Systems and Political Participation
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Populism, Right-Wing Movements
- Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Political Theory and Democracy
- Keywords
- ethnic antagonism, Republican Party, democratic commitment, ethnic conflict, political cynicism, economic conservatism, cultural conservatism, Trump support, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, partisanship
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