research Archives | American Democracy Minute

Multiple Polls Suggest that a Disturbing Number of Americans are More Accepting of Extreme Political Violence

July 14, 2024July 15, 2024

The attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life came as a shock to many Americans. But as violent rhetoric and actions have increased in recent election cycles, multiple polls confirm that a disturbing number of Americans accept political violence as a means of solving the country’s problems.

Why People Don’t Vote Week: You Can’t Vote if You Don’t Register — So Why Don’t Nonvoters Register?

July 10, 2024July 11, 2024

We continue our “Why People Don’t Vote Week” with why eligible citizens don’t register to vote. Polls show that it’s a combination of apathy, available time, lack of information, and other social and systemic barriers.

Pew Study Finds 85% of Americans Don’t Think Elected Officials Care About What ‘People Like Them’ Think – Up 30% since 2000

June 18, 2024June 18, 2024

A Pew Research Center report released in late April finds that Americans are frustrated with their federal government, and say that elected officials don’t care about what “people like them” think.

National Study of Elections Officials Confirms Turnover from Harassment, But Also Finds An Aging Workforce and Increasing Workloads are Factors

April 10, 2024April 10, 2024

Disinformation spread about the 2020 election by candidates & partisan groups mobilized extremists to harass or threaten election officials. Many of those officials resigned. But a large national study also found other reasons for large-scale turnover, and some hope for the 2024 election.

Survey Finds Strong Support from Americans for Early Voting & Election Day Holiday Reforms, but Also Restrictive Government-Issued ID Requirements

February 12, 2024February 12, 2024

A new study by Pew Research finds Americans broadly support such democracy reforms as making election day a holiday and two weeks of in person early voting, but also think voters must use government issued ID, and voting machines should have paper backup.