Democracy Is A Top Concern For Many Voters We Asked Them Why

Fear of another Trump presidency is pushing some undecided voters toward Biden. While it's practically a given that economic issues rank as the most important to voters, and policy issues like immigration and public safety have surged in salience over the past year, there's another issue... Voters were evenly split when asked in a January YouGov/CBS News poll whether having a strong economy or having a functioning democracy was a bigger concern in the coming years, and research from Ipsos... Overall, polls have consistently shown that both Democrats and Republicans think democracy is at risk in the coming election, but largely for different reasons. Partnering with 538, nonpartisan research firm PerryUndem recently conducted a set of focus groups with swing-state voters who identified as undecided ahead of the 2024 presidential election — one group leaning toward voting for... As we did with our focus group questions about "the economy," we asked these voters what they meant when they expressed concerns about "democracy," and how those concerns impacted their decision-making on whom to...

These focus groups found that the economy was indeed top of mind for undecided voters, and that those leaning toward Trump thought the economy was a point of strength for him … but Biden... Democracy turned out to be key in answering why those voters were inclined to vote for Biden nonetheless, as their differing opinions on what factors posed the biggest threat to democracy drove each group... Josh Boak, Associated Press Josh Boak, Associated Press Linley Sanders, Associated Press Linley Sanders, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Voters said the economy and immigration are the top issues facing the country, but the future of democracy was also a leading motivator for many Americans casting a ballot in Tuesday’s... INTERACTIVE MAP: Create your own projections for the 2024 presidential race, based on race ratings from Cook Political Report

AP VoteCast, an expansive survey of more than 110,000 voters nationwide, found a country mired in negativity and desperate for change as Americans faced a stark choice between former President Donald Trump and Vice... The Democratic Party greatly misunderstood voter concerns about democracy, exit polls show. Vice President Kamala Harris, who conceded the election to former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, and Democrats had vigorously campaigned on the issue of democracy, albeit less than President Joe Biden did, pointing to... democracy. When early exit polls found it to be a top voting issue, liberals took this as a sign that it could be good news for Harris. But Trump voters made up a greater share of those who described American democracy as "somewhat threatened," 50 percent, or "very threatened," 51 percent, CNN's exit polls show.

Comparably, Harris voters accounted for 49 percent of those who said democracy in the U.S. is "somewhat threatened," and 47 percent said "very threatened." "Democrats significantly overplayed their hand in the 2024 election with the democracy issue," GOP strategist Matt Klink told Newsweek. "Most voters, except die-hard Democrats and a few but vocal Republicans, believe that Donald Trump was not a threat to democracy." More than 80% of voters are worried about democracy in the U.S., according to a new poll. The Bipartisan Policy Center/Morning Consult poll found that 82% of voters are worried about democracy, and 40% said they are “very worried.”

This concern is not limited to one party – 84% of voters in each party said they are concerned about the state of democracy in the country. The poll found that 59% of voters have very little faith in politicians learning how to work together. Among Republicans, 62% lack confidence that the parties can come up with bipartisan solutions, compared to 50% of Democrats. When asked about the economy, 67% of those surveyed said it was “very important” for both Republicans and Democrats to pass bipartisan legislation on the economy. The state of democracy and the economy in the U.S. were the top issues on the minds of voters as they cast ballots in the presidential election, according to preliminary results from the NBC News Exit Poll.

Asked to choose among five issues, 34% of voters said democracy mattered most to their votes, while 31% said the economy. Abortion (14%) and immigration (11%) ranked as the next-most-important issues, while just 4% named foreign policy. Men and women both said the state of democracy was their most important issue, followed by the economy. Two in 10 women said abortion was most important, compared with 8% of men. Immigration was ranked slightly higher among men (12%) than women (10%). Foreign policy lagged behind as a priority for both groups.

The exit poll results can shift throughout the night as more interviews are conducted and more votes are counted. The issue priorities reflected deep concerns among the electorate. Roughly 3 in 4 voters said they think democracy in the U.S. today is threatened, while just a quarter said democracy is secure. Roughly 2 in 3 voters said the nation’s economy is either not good or poor, while just one-third of voters assessed economic conditions as excellent or good. While most Americans believe the country is headed in the wrong direction, they have more positive assessments of how things are going in their communities and personal lives.

Americans are divided on whether American culture and way of life since the 1950s has changed for the better, with Republicans and Democrats holding opposite views. Inflation remains a predominant concern among all Americans; among Republicans, immigration and crime are top critical issues while abortion and the health of democracy rank higher for Democrats. The role of abortion and immigration among voters as “litmus test” voting issues differ along partisan and religious lines. Most Americans express high levels of concern about economic stress. January 22, 2024 • By Bryan McKenzie, bkm4s@virginia.edu Bryan McKenzie, bkm4s@virginia.edu Republicans, Democrats and independents all agree that American democracy is not working as well as it could, and the reasons for that are myriad, a UVA expert says.

(Illustration by John DiJulio, University Communications) Even as New Hampshire voters go to the polls in the state’s presidential primary, respected surveys across the country show increasing numbers of Americans are concerned about the state of our democratic system of... Although the vast majority still support it, some surveys show as many as 20% of Americans have given up on democracy as the preferred form of government. A Jan. 5 Gallup poll showed fewer than a third of adults are satisfied with the way American democracy is working. Among self-identifying party members, only 17% of Republicans are satisfied, compared to 38% of Democrats and 27% of those who identify as independent voters.

By Michael Bilfinger, AACRAO Assistant Director of Public Policy Democracy is a system of government in which the state draws its power and legitimacy from the consent of its citizens. There are many different variations of democracy, and the U.S. employs a representative democracy in which citizens elect officials to make decisions on their behalf as opposed to directly voting on issues, as some states do in referendum votes. While not technically part of the definition of democracy, certain institutions, such as the freedom of speech and press, are critical to a democracy's function because they directly support the citizen's ability to consent... For a democracy to be healthy and just, all members of society, both those in the majority and in the minority, must buy into this idea of citizenry consent and uphold these virtues.

Voting in a democracy is critical because it is the most direct avenue that citizens can use to express consent, the basis for their government's legitimacy, and influence laws and priorities. In the 2020 presidential election, 66 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot, according to the Pew Research Center. This was the highest U.S. voter turnout rate in a national election since 1900, and yet it still pales in comparison to the turnout rate in many other developed democracies. Additionally, voter registration and turnout in the U.S. is not equal across all populations.

For example, the estimated voter registration rate for Asian Americans is about 9 percent lower than it is for whites, and for Latinos, the gap is roughly 13 percent, according to National Public Radio. The impacts of this can be seen on election day. For instance, 43 percent of eligible white adults voted in the 2018, 2020, and 2022 elections, whereas only 21 percent of eligible Asian Americans voted in all three and only 19 percent of eligible... Furthermore, current evidence from the Brennan Center of Justice suggests that these disparities in voter turnout have been consistently widening since 2012 after having been on a downward decline since the civil rights revolution... All the while, polling by Gallup in June 2024 found that only 28% of Americans are satisfied with the way democracy functions, a historic low. But why care?

With voter registration trends seemingly worsening and a general feeling amongst the public that voting doesn't actually lead to change, why bother voting? Simply put, because of the enormous impact the federal government can have on your daily life. For example, in FY 2024, the U.S. Department of Education (the Department) has thus far spent over $160 billion dollars, more than half of which $85.2 billion, went to federal direct student loan programs (source). This money ultimately went to higher education institutions, many of whom wouldn't exist without this funding lifeline. Additionally, as of January 2024, the Department holds $1.5 trillion in federal loans for nearly 43 million borrowers, according to the Government Accountability Office.

For comparison, the largest banks in America, J.P. Morgan, and Chase had roughly $1.3 trillion in net loans on their balance sheet for 2023 (source). While it's practically a given that economic issues rank as the most important to voters, and policy issues like immigration and public safety have surged in salience over the past year, there's another issue... Voters were evenly split when asked in a January YouGov/CBS News poll whether having a strong economy or having a functioning democracy was a bigger concern in the coming years, and research from Ipsos... Overall, polls have consistently shown that both Democrats and Republicans think democracy is at risk in the coming election, but largely for different reasons. Partnering with 538, nonpartisan research firm PerryUndem recently conducted a set of focus groups with swing-state voters who identified as undecided ahead of the 2024 presidential election — one group leaning toward voting for...

As we did with our focus group questions about "the economy," we asked these voters what they meant when they expressed concerns about "democracy," and how those concerns impacted their decision-making on whom to... These focus groups found that the economy was indeed top of mind for undecided voters, and that those leaning toward Trump thought the economy was a point of strength for him … but Biden... Democracy turned out to be key in answering why those voters were inclined to vote for Biden nonetheless, as their differing opinions on what factors posed the biggest threat to democracy drove each group... Across the board, voters were deeply frustrated over the state of democracy, suggesting that the country was off on the wrong track and expressing pessimism about whether it could improve. They were also dissatisfied with the candidates they had to choose from. Democracy "won't get better in our lifetime," one voter said.

Several participants from both groups expressed the idea that the government was not representing the will of the people or the needs of "middle-class taxpayers."

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