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
America Confronts the State of Its Politics in 2024
In a few weeks, millions of Americans will go to the polls in what will inevitably be described as the most important election of their lifetimes. Millions have already cast ballots early or by mail in an election that has been marked by landmark events and unexpected turns. After a disastrous early debate, President Biden reluctantly withdrew his candidacy and Democrats selected Vice President Kamala Harris as the party’s nominee. In addition, Republican nominee Donald Trump survived two separate assassination attempts. Since our last report, both parties held their nominating conventions, and proceedings in Trump’s legal cases continued, though their pace has slowed and they have largely receded from the headlines. With the campaigns taking center stage, so too have false or inflammatory claims by and about the candidates as well as broader concerns about public confidence in the integrity of American elections and the prospect of another effort to overturn their result.
In this fraught environment, we fielded parallel surveys of 549 political scientists and a representative sample of 2750 Americans from September 25–October 8, 2024.1
October 2024
Bright Line Watch in the media
by Francis Wilkinson at Bloomberg, 10/17/2024
by Philip Bump at The Washington Post, 7/11/2024
by Philip Bump at The Washington Post, 7/01/2024
Why Voters Are Worried About Democracy, In Their Own Words by FiveThirtyEight Politics, 5/16/2024
Trump says some migrants are ‘not people’ and warns of a ‘bloodbath’ if he loses
by NPR, 3/17/2024
by Ronald Brownstein at The Atlantic, 8/02/2023
by David Schribman at The Globe and Mail, 8/02/2023
by John Cassidy at The New Yorker, 7/31/2023