At a time of potential danger to American democratic norms and institutions, it is more urgent than ever for scholars to highlight the risks to our system of government. In this spirit, Bright Line Watch brings together a group of political scientists to monitor democratic practices, their resilience, and potential threats.
Featured report
Rebound in Confidence: American Democracy and the 2022 Midterm Elections
The November 2022 midterm elections narrowly returned the United States to divided government. From the perspective of American democracy, the most noteworthy result was the underperformance of election denier candidates allied with former President Trump and their acceptance of the results (with only one prominent exception – Kari Lake in Arizona). To understand the outcome of the election and its effects on perceptions of democracy in the United States, we fielded parallel surveys of 707 political scientists and a representative sample of 2750 Americans from November 22-December 2, 2022.
November 2022
Bright Line Watch in the media
A Year After Jan. 6, Millions of Americans Support Violence by Blake Hounshell and Leah Askarinam at The New York Times, 1/5/2022
Why Jan. 6th Was Not A Turning Point by FiveThirtyEight Politics, 1/4/2022
Don’t Despair About U.S. Democracy. Fix It.
by Jonathan Bernstein at The Washington Post, 12/23/2021
‘We are closer to civil war than any of us would like to believe,’ new study says
by Dana Milbank at The Washington Post, 12/17/2021
U.S. Democracy Faces Real Threats
by Jonathan Bernstein at The Washington Post, 12/17/21
Republicans’ belief in Trump’s ‘Big Lie’ holds steady as confidence in U.S. elections dips by Eli Stokols at Los Angeles Times, 12/16/2021
The Races That Could Prevent The Hijacking Of The 2024 Election
by Travis Waldron at HuffPost, 12/16/21
1 in 6 committed Republicans would support a violent pro-Trump coup
by Christopher Ingraham at The Why Axis (Substack), 12/16/2021
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