CCPP Graduate Affiliate Chloe Mortenson and CCPP Director Erik C. Nisbet recently had their co-authored article, “Benefit-Seekers or Principle-Holders? Experimental Evidence on Americans’ Democratic Trade-Offs,” accepted for publication in Perspectives on Politics. Their study investigates how Americans navigate trade-offs between core democratic principles, such as political equality, rule of law, and freedom of expression, and economic outcomes when evaluating what makes an “ideal” democracy.
Drawing on a national conjoint experiment, the researchers asked participants to choose between hypothetical democratic systems that varied across procedural, liberal, and distributive dimensions. This innovative design allowed them to measure citizens’ revealed preferences—how people prioritize competing democratic goods—rather than relying solely on self-reported attitudes.
Their findings reveal that while most Americans endorse democratic norms in principle, support for these ideals weakens when economic conditions deteriorate. When faced with material hardship, some citizens are willing to trade procedural or liberal democratic values for greater economic security. The study also uncovers a striking disconnect between what people say they value democracy and the choices they make when confronted with these trade-offs.
Together, these results suggest that appeals to “democracy on the ballot” may fail to resonate with voters who experience democracy through the lens of economic well-being. Mortenson and Nisbet’s research underscores that safeguarding democracy requires attention not only to political institutions but also to the material conditions that sustain democratic commitment among citizens.
This project is based on research supported by the Center for Communication and Public Policy at Northwestern University.