Partisans Agree: Democracy is in Danger. NewsWire

NewsWire: 7/12/22

• Half of voters (49%) believe it is “likely” that the U.S. will “cease to be a democracy in the future,” according to a new poll. An even higher share of voters (58%) believe that the country is becoming less democratic. (Yahoo! News/YouGov)
• NH: When asked about their views about various political issues, such as the January 6 hearings or the possibility of another Trump run, faithful Fox News viewers and MSNBC viewers hardly agree on anything. But there is one exception. They both believe democracy in America is toast.
• Overall, nearly half of Americans (49%) believe that it is “likely” that our nation “will cease to be a democracy in the future.” Just a quarter said that this was unlikely, while another quarter said they were not sure. But partisans are a lot more certain. Among Fox News viewers, 56% believe the end of democracy is likely. Among MSNBC viewers, it’s 60%.

• Partisans are also in lockstep in thinking that America is becoming a less democratic country. Fully 58% of Americans agree with this idea. Only 19% think the country is becoming more democratic, and 24% are not sure. Exactly the same share (61%) of Fox News viewers and of MSNBC viewers think the country is becoming less democratic.
• Not everybody thinks that this is necessarily a bad thing. Pollsters also asked the public if America would be better off with “more powerful political leaders who could enact policies with less involvement from the other branches of government.” While more Americans said no (47%) than yes (16%), answers differed dramatically by age.
• Only 30% of 18- to 29-year-olds and 34% of 30- to 44-year-olds believe that the country would be worse off. This is much lower than the 58% of 45- to 64-year-olds and 60% of 65+ who say the same. No other demographic category—gender, race, political affiliation, TV viewership, etc.—saw a divide this wide. Here's another way to see the generational divide. Among all those saying "better off" or "worse off," only 14% of Americans 65+ said better off. 44% of Americans under 30 said better off.
• The differences by age reflect Millennials’ disaffection with democracy (see “Global Millennials: Down on Democracy and Drawn to Populism”), which has shown up in survey after survey. While fans of partisan media are the most likely to believe that the end is nigh, young people are the most likely to think that maybe an authoritarian alternative is just what we need.