Do Citizens Tolerate Antidemocratic Statements

Bibliographic Data

ID4875903
AuthorsKristian Vrede Skaaning Frederiksen (0000-0003-1845-3297, Aarhus University, corresponding author), Svend-Erik Skaaning (0000-0002-8587-8183, Aarhus University)
Year2023
Volume84
Pages102652
Publication date2023-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueElectoral Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0261-3794 • E-ISSN: 1873-6890
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.electstud.2023.102652
OpenAlexW4385287670
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited44

Antidemocratic statements by politicians have become part of politics in several backsliding democracies. Yet, we know little about how ordinary citizens think antidemocratic statements should be dealt with. We employ conjoint experiments fielded in the United States, Germany, and Hungary to investigate the extent to which citizens think undemocratic and other controversial statements should be restricted. Specifically, we randomly assign antidemocratic statements – threatening electoral integrity directly or indirectly – along with other controversial statements to hypothetical politicians running for elections. We show that citizens wish to ban antidemocratic statements relative to generic placebo statements. Moreover, this willingness corresponds to their willingness to ban other forms of controversial statements that either represent offenses to different identity markers or induce material risks. We also find that the willingness to ban antidemocratic statements is evident across the three countries and regardless of gender, education, age, and partisanship, with only modest differences in the results between countries and subgroups. Our findings thus indicate that citizens generally care about democracy, which is good news for democracy and electoral integrity, but also that they do not care more about democracy than other fundamental values related to material costs or identity markers

Democracy · Political science · Politics · Electoral Systems and Political Participation · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Social and Intergroup Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access