Bright Line Watch

Experts rate the insurrection and Trump’s pressure on state officials to overturn the election as among the most abnormal and important events of his presidency and identify them as grave or serious threats to American democracy. http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-at-the-start-of-the-biden-presidency/ …pic.twitter.com/5Yc5ZH1W6n

Experts overwhelmingly favor proposals to expand voting participation, tighten campaign finance regulation, and modify electoral and voting rules. They also favor abolishing the filibuster and term limits for SC justices but reject compulsory voting. http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-at-the-start-of-the-biden-presidency/ …pic.twitter.com/uChq10lgId

Democracy remains the public's preferred method of governance, though Rs and Is demonstrate less uniform support (81% and 82% vs 94% for Ds). Few in any party favor strongman rule and even fewer welcome military rule. Ds are more supportive of expert rule. http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-at-the-start-of-the-biden-presidency/ …pic.twitter.com/JDYIGvXLj3

When presented with a proposal for their region to secede from the US, almost 1 in 3 Americans (29%) are willing to entertain the prospect. Rs (33%) support secession more than Ds (21%), but Ds are more amenable to secession than Rs where they hold power. http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-at-the-start-of-the-biden-presidency/ …pic.twitter.com/0q2dbcmqZU

A candidate choice experiment reveals cross-party consensus on COVID relief but stark polarization over certifying the election and impeachment. Republicans punish Republican candidates for crossing the party line on either issue. http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-at-the-start-of-the-biden-presidency/ …pic.twitter.com/mNnPTwYvNH

Election confidence declines dramatically at the national level compared to the county and state level among independents and especially Republicans. These trends are mirrored among local govt. policymakers, though they report somewhat higher confidence. http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-at-the-start-of-the-biden-presidency/ …pic.twitter.com/XmIlCJxgWw

New report http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-on-the-eve-of-the-2020-election/a-democratic-stress-test-the-2020-election-and-its-aftermathbright-line-watch-november-2020-survey/ … -in confidence in natl. vote count to 15% for strong approvers -Just 18% of approvers say Biden true winner; 30% Trump, 52% not known/DK -Experts expect many norm-violating acts, rate fraud claims as most important abnormal acts of presidencypic.twitter.com/C5Tx199aLO

Experts rate President Trump’s statement that the 2020 election should be delayed and his refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power as the most important and abnormal of the 169 events they have rated over the course of his presidency http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-on-the-eve-of-the-2020-election/ …pic.twitter.com/JYenFvbcBL

Both experts and the public perceive substantial declines since March in U.S. performance on the democratic principles of tolerating political protest and refraining from political violence http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-on-the-eve-of-the-2020-election/ …pic.twitter.com/zDRFBoPnjk

Most Americans reject political violence and harassment, but a non-trivial minority are willing to endorse it, especially if their partisan opponents use violence first (40%, including 46% of Trump supporters and 36% of Trump opponents) http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-on-the-eve-of-the-2020-election/ …pic.twitter.com/4GFsI5Cpjf

The public expresses less confidence in the national vote count than in the counting of their own vote or the count in their state. Americans also vastly overestimate the prevalence of widespread voter fraud, which is negligible http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-on-the-eve-of-the-2020-election/ …pic.twitter.com/wQYykJB7MM

Experts rated the likelihood of a number of nightmare scenarios for the 2020 election that have been identified by experts or in the press. President Trump encouraging violence and refusing to concede were identified as among the most likely. http://brightlinewatch.org/american-democracy-on-the-eve-of-the-2020-election/ …pic.twitter.com/uqsW0B1lXX

New @BrightLineWatch expert survey on state of US democracy http://brightlinewatch.org/bright-line-watch-august-2020-expert-survey/ … Key findings: -Lowest democratic quality ratings we've measured -Substantial declines since March on speech protections, protest toleration, political violence -Numerous important/abnormal eventspic.twitter.com/47DrF3sLYm