This article contains news and liberal commentary.
Research by Foreign Policy magazine lends support to anecdotal evidence that democracy is not a universal value among the American people.
Anti-democratic attitudes are concentrated on the political right, and among Trump supporters, but also exist on the left.
A July 2020 survey conducted by Foreign Policy found that 31% of Americans — nearly a third — “believe it is a good idea to have a ‘strong incumbent leader who does not have to bother with Congress and elections,’” while 38% of Trump supporters “back giving up on elections and Congress.”
“Mediocre support for democracy, especially among the president’s supporters, is a recipe for a constitutional crisis,” especially if he loses the election and refuses to step down, Foreign Policy said. Read article here.
I don’t read these results as necessarily implying these survey respondents prefer dictatorship to democracy; more likely it reflects frustration with the fractious state of our politics, a deadlocked Congress, and inability to get their way through the existing political system.