Ethnocentric concerns have held an incomprehensible hold over conservative politics for some time now, and the pernicious effect it’s having on their ideology is underlined by new research from Vanderbilt University, which finds that conservatives are willing to undermine democracy to uphold these concerns.

The researchers analyzed the results from a survey of Republican voters from January 2020 on a range of topics, including respect for the rule of law, the use of violence in pursuit of political ends, and the legitimacy of elections.  The survey attempted to make the questions as realistic as possible, and so placed traditional democratic values against other ideals, including strong leadership, the “traditional American way of life”, and patriotism.

The results revealed that over half of respondents agreed that the traditional American way of life is disappearing so quickly that force may be required to save it.  An even larger proportion thought that it’s hard to trust election results as many people will “vote for anyone who offers a handout”.

“Faced with these trade-offs, relatively few Republicans declined the invitation to bend the rules or take the law into their own hands,” the researchers say.

Antidemocratic intent

To understand the roots of this discontent, the researchers measured six potential causes, including enthusiasm for Donald Trump, economic or cultural conservatism, and ethnic antagonism.  Of the six possible causes, ethnic antagonism was far and away the strongest predictor of antidemocratic sentiments.

“The antidemocratic sentiments are not primarily products of social isolation or insufficient education or political interest,” the researchers say. “Rather, they are grounded in real political values—specifically, and overwhelmingly, in Republicans’ ethnocentric concerns about the political and social role of immigrants, African Americans and Latinos in a context of significant demographic and cultural change.”

It’s a notion that is underpinned by a perception that immigrants and ethnic minorities have an excessive amount of political power and government resources.  The survey also found that conservatives believe African Americans were using racism as an excuse.

While the researchers accept that such views are also present among liberals, ethnic antagonism is much less common, with previous research showing that 98% of Democrats had lower levels of ethnic antagonism than Republicans.

“One of the most politically salient features of the contemporary United States is the looming demographic transition from a majority white to a ‘majority-minority’ country,” the researchers say. “For those who view demographic change as a significant threat to ‘the traditional American way of life,’ the political stakes could hardly be higher.”

It remains to be seen how far these views are likely to go, but we are obviously in a hugely divided time, and the authors warn that we have never before had a government that was so willing to assail key democratic institutions and traditions and violate democratic norms.  How damaging that proves to be for democracy will only truly emerge in the coming years.