Bright Spots and Bearish Views on Democracy
Results for a NYT/Siena poll on the threats and assets of democracy, plus how Harris and Trump supporters view one another.
Over the weekend, The New York Times released the remainder of a recent national poll of likely voters, conducted between October 20-23. The questions covered voters’ choice for president, likelihood to vote, candidate favorability, among other typical questions. Occasionally, however, The Times asks respondents several questions related to democracy. Here are some of the results I thought worthy of highlighting.
Trump voters are bearish on democracy
Contrary to left-of-center media narratives about democracy being under attack by Donald Trump, it’s Republicans and Trump supporters who appear to be as, or more, concerned about the health of American democracy.
When asked whether they think American democracy does or does not do a good job of representing the people, 49% of likely voters said it does, while 45% said it does not. Among Trump supporters, 57% said it does not do a good job representing the people, compared to 36% who said it does. The only other groups where a majority shared that view were Republicans, non-college-educated whites, “other” race, and voters under 44.
When asked whether they think American democracy is currently under threat, 76% of Americans said that it is, while 20% disagreed. Both Trump and Harris supporters shared this view, with 76% and 77%, respectively, agreeing.
When asked whether the “political and economic system in America” needs no changes, minor changes, major changes, or needs to be torn down, a slim majority (51%) of respondents said major changes, followed by 38% for minor changes. Trump supporters were 13 points more likely than Harris supporters to say the system needed major changes. Of the 7% who said the system needed to be torn down, the only groups exceeding 10% for that response were Black Americans, Trump supporters, Republicans, and those who didn’t vote in 2020.
What is the threat?
Respondents were asked to identify the current threat to democracy from a given list. A majority cited the following: Donald Trump (21%), the government/government corruption/non-specific politicians/leaders (14%), immigrants/immigration (7%), loss of constitutional liberties/damage to institutions (6%), and instability/sentiments about how bad things are (5%) — or what I’d call “bad vibes.”
Democrats, unsurprisingly, were most likely to cite Donald Trump (43%). However, Republicans were more likely to cite “the government, etc.” (18%) and immigrants (13%). Only 6% of Republicans cited Kamala Harris, and 9% cited Democrats generally.
What’s good for democracy
Respondents were asked whether a range of subjects were good, bad, or neither good nor bad for democracy.
Fifty-three percent of Democrats said Republicans were bad for democracy, compared to 18% who said they were good. Among Republicans, 60% said Democrats were bad for democracy, while 15% said they were good.
Regarding the candidates, 90% of Harris supporters said Trump was bad for democracy. Conversely, 80% of Trump supporters said the same about Harris.
When asked whether the government is “mostly working to benefit itself and the elites” or “mostly working to benefit the people and the country,” 82-14% of Trump supporters said the former. Among Harris supporters, 53-41% said the latter.
A somewhat brighter note
Voters were asked whether they thought of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris supporters as “fellow Americans who you disagree with politically” or “the enemy.” Among all respondents, 77-16% said they view these supporters as their fellow Americans.
Specifically, 78% of Harris supporters described Trump supporters as fellow Americans, while 17% saw them as enemies. Similarly, 84% of Trump supporters considered Harris supporters as fellow Americans, compared to 12% who did not.
The full poll results can be found here.
In a political media dominated by national narratives, That Patchwork is the only newsletter about democracy from a decentralist angle. To preserve democratic pluralism means challenging the primacy of national narratives that presume central power knows best.