Democracy and ‘The Other’: Outgroup Attitudes and Support for Anti-Democratic Norms

Studies of race and ethnic politics have documented that symbolic threat from racial and ethnic outgroups is a key driver of white Americans’ political judgements. However, this research has not been extended to regime-level norms, such as political tolerance and other norms of democracy. The political tolerance literature documents that despite high support for democracy, there is instability in Americans’ embrace of specific democratic norms. This literature has identified various correlates of support for undemocratic norms but has limited engagement with the scholarship on race and ethnic politics. This study bridges the gap between the two theories by explaining why we should expect a relationship between symbolic outgroup threat and support for undemocratic norms. By using supporting evidence based on qualitative data, three survey experiments, and correlational analyses of five nationally representative datasets, I show that symbolic threat from racial and ethnic outgroups is an important driver of white Americans’ support for undemocratic norms.