A new study argues that a large share of American voters who choose neutral responses on questions about democracy may make it easier for elected officials to pursue antidemocratic outcomes. The research draws on three surveys of more than 45,000 voting-age Americans: two conducted in the summers of 2024 and 2025, and a larger weekly YouGov survey run between 2022 and 2023. The lead author is Matthew E.K. Hall; the paper appears in Nature Human Behaviour, with coauthors B. Tyler Leigh and Brittany C. Solomon, and funding from the Rooney Democracy Institute.
Participants were asked whether they agreed, disagreed, or felt neutral about four specific undemocratic practices: reducing outparty polling stations, ignoring outparty court decisions, remaining loyal to the party over the Constitution, and censoring partisan media. About half of respondents checked neutral on at least one item. Outright agreement was less common; overall, up to two-thirds did not actively oppose undemocratic acts by officials, candidates, or leaders, while fewer than one in five explicitly supported those practices. Neutrality occurred at similar rates among Republicans, Democrats, and nonpartisans.
The researchers link neutrality to several attitudes—conditional tolerance of norm violations, uncertainty about complex issues, apathy, ambivalence, and social pressure that can lead some people to feign neutrality despite supporting antidemocratic policies. To address the problem, the authors recommend targeted persuasion strategies aimed at neutral voters, urging them to reject candidates who undermine democratic rules, including when those candidates belong to the voters' own party, and to focus messaging in upcoming contests such as the 2026 primaries.
Difficult words
- neutrality — absence of a firm public position or opinion
- undemocratic — opposed to democratic rules or principles
- outparty — the political party opposite a voter’s own party
- ambivalence — having mixed or unclear feelings about something
- apathy — lack of interest or concern about political issues
- uncertainty — not having a clear or definite belief
- persuasion — the act of trying to change people’s views
- feign — to pretend to have a feeling or opinion
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Discussion questions
- Why might many voters choose neutral responses on questions about undemocratic practices? Give reasons based on the article.
- What kinds of targeted persuasion messages do you think could convince neutral voters to reject candidates who undermine democratic rules?
- Do you think persuading people to reject candidates from their own party is realistic? Why or why not?
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