American Values Survey Reveals Cultural Differences and a Growing Number of Americans Expressing Openness to Political Violence.
If the latest survey is any indication, it would appear that Americans are more concerned than ever before that our democracy is at risk. According to the latest Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) in partnership with the Brookings Institution, three-fourths of Americans (75 percent) say that the future of American democracy is at risk in the 2024 presidential election.
This is not an abstract — “Out there” — risk. It is a reality that every single American of voting age, down to the county level, must recognize. Worse, a significant percentage, more than 23 percent, believes there will be politically motivated violence associated with the election. This is the first time that that percentage has topped 20 percent since the survey began 14 years ago.
“The political temperature in America is rising, and this year’s American Values Survey results reflect that reality,” said PRRI president and founder Robert P. Jones.
PRRI is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to conducting independent research at the intersection of religion, culture, and politics and its most recent survey contains warning lights.
“Our last presidential election was the first in our history without a peaceful transfer of power,” adds Jones. “With flashes of political violence continuing among us, and the 2024 election on the horizon, we should be deeply concerned about the growing number of Americans who express openness to political violence.”
A hallmark of democracy is that ‘we the people’ elect our leaders, we shift leadership with a peaceful transfer of power, and we disagree in civil debate — sometimes fierce debate — but we debate, we don’t shoot each other or “disappear” our political adversaries. This is a lynchpin of Western civil society.
The survey reveals that for the first time, a disturbing statistic has emerged. Over the past two years, support for political violence has increased; nearly a quarter of Americans (23 percent) agree that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country.”
Left undefined is exactly what the definition of “true American patriot” is. One suspects that there may well be a vast divergence of opinion about that definition, with the right, the left, and the middle claiming it.
What jumps out is this: that it is an eight-point increase from 15 percent in 2021. PRRI says that it has asked this question in eight separate surveys since March 2021. This is the first time support for political violence has risen above 20 percent in the general population.
But that response percentage is weighted toward Republicans and evangelical Christians. Some 33 percent of Republicans “believe that true American patriots may have to resort to violence to save the country”, compared with 22 percent of independents and 13 percent of Democrats.
The survey shows that the percentage of those who believe violence is needed has increased across the board since 2021:
Affiliation %/ 2023 %/2021
Republicans 33 28
Independents 22 13
Democrats 13 7
One of the more concerning statistics of the most recent PRRI survey is that nearly one-third (31 percent) of those identifying as “white evangelical Protestants” also believe patriots (their definition) may have to resort to political violence to save the country, significantly higher than any other religious group.
Diving into that statistic support for political violence is higher among segments holding these views:
- Americans who believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump (46 percent);
- Americans who hold a favorable view of Trump (41 percent);
- Americans who believe in the so-called “replacement theory,” that “immigrants are invading our country and replacing our cultural and ethnic background” (41 percent); and
- Americans who affirm the core tenet of white Christian nationalism, that God intended America to be a new promised land for European Christians (39 percent).
It could be pointed out that these views are held by the outside organization that recently inserted itself into the Buena Vista School Board race; the Truth and Liberty Coalition. Also revealed by the survey; that Republicans are much more likely to be believers in and followers of QAnon conspiracy threads.
The survey reveals in stark contrast America’s cultural fault lines; One faction embraces our multicultural reality as representing the melting pot that American has always been; the other appears to be operating out of fear and what they envision as a threat to an American way of life that they belive belongs to them, but not others.
“A slim majority of Americans, including most Democrats, want a president who can make America work economically,” said PRRI CEO Melissa Deckman. But nearly half of Americans, including most Republicans, prefer a president who will preserve their vision of American culture and way of life in the face of the country’s changing demographics.”
While the survey covers dozens of aspects of American life and concerns, it points out one notable finding with Colorado significance:
“Overwhelming majorities of Americans support teaching both the good and the bad of American history, trust public school teachers to select appropriate curriculum and oppose the banning of books that discuss slavery or the banning of Advanced Placement (AP) African American History. A solid majority of Americans also oppose banning social and emotional learning programs in public schools. Americans are more divided on the issue of teaching about sexual orientation and gender identity.”