Political Rhetoric Changes Views on Democratic Principles: Study

Hall added that while this particular study focused on Trump’s actual tweets, it is not meant to be an attack on Trump or on Republicans, and he and his co-author plan on doing further research into different forms of troubling rhetoric from other Republicans as well as Democrats. “It’s not necessarily important who the individual is in particular, but it is important that they are a leader and what our leaders say truly does matter,” Hall explained.

The researchers found that exposure to Trump’s norm-violating tweets did not change how the individuals felt about democracy as a form of government, but it did reduce their support for two democratic principles in particular: participatory inclusiveness and political equality.

Hall explained that if someone who approved of Trump was shown a “placebo” tweet, nothing changed. But if the Trump supporter was shown one of his more antidemocratic tweets, then he or she would indicate less support of those critical political values.

For example, Hall said, “When Trump’s tweets talk about ‘the most rigged election in our nation’s history,’ ‘fraud that will occur’ in the next election and ‘fraudulent and missing ballots,’ his supporters trust elections less, essentially losing faith in the process.”

And, continued Hall, “When Trump’s tweets refer to protesters as ‘thugs’ who engaged in ‘looting, burning and crime’ or to the media as ‘the enemy of the people,’ his supporters express less support for political equality.

“This shows us that Trump supporters are listening to Donald Trump,” Hall explained. “And when he says these things, it shifts their opinions. So it is creating more polarization — not about ideology or issues, but about the principles of democracy itself. And if you have leaders who violate the norms of our democracy, it will lead to a public that is less respectful of our democracy.”

For those who took the survey but were not supportive of Trump to begin with, Hall said there was no change in their overall attitudes toward democracy. However, Hall was surprised by the fact that when non-supporters of Trump read the tweets containing norm-violating rhetoric, they became more supportive of the rule of law.

“They actually become worried about executive power and how the elites are dominating our society,” Hall said. “This means that Trump’s opponents shifted to support other principles that they feel are threatened.”

When asked what his research means for the upcoming election season, Hall predicted an amping up of the rhetoric in the days ahead — and what is important is whether the talk will reinforce or undermine support for our democracy.

“Rhetoric matters,” Hall concluded. “And maybe what our leaders say doesn’t matter today necessarily, but if they keep saying it over and over again, for years at a time, then big segments of our population will start changing the way they think about our democracy in the long term — eroding the basic fabric of support for our core democratic principles. That’s how a democracy falls apart.”

The 2023-24 Notre Dame Forum is focused on “The Future of Democracy.” The Notre Dame community will be invited to engage in further dialogue to learn the importance of maintaining a vibrant democratic system, as well as having the opportunity to discuss emerging threats to global democracy and how it can be reinvigorated within our nation and beyond.

Tracy DeStazio is associate Ddirector of media relations, University of Notre Dame. The article was originally posted to the website of the University of Notre Dame.