If you were to ask democracy scholars what they consider the greatest threat to American democracy, you might assume it is voters who support undemocratic practices or policies. But the real answer may surprise you: These voters are not the main problem.
According to a recent study from the University of 91³Ō¹Ļ, voters who are comfortable living in the middle ā neither agreeing nor disagreeing when asked about substantive issues relevant to upholding democracy ā might be the largest group to blame for democratic decline in the United States.
These ādemocratic neutralsā are what the studyās co-authors consider some of the most dangerous voters in the current political environment.
Neutrality as leverage in democratic backsliding
Using three surveys of more than 45,000 voting-age Americans, the researchers found that about half of the U.S. population expresses an attitude of democratic neutrality ā or an āunwillingness to support or oppose policies or practices that undermine democracy,ā explained , lead author of in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
āNeutrality towards democracy, rather than outright opposition, has enabled democratic backsliding among various Western democracies as elected officials leverage citizensā neutral attitudes to pursue antidemocratic outcomes,ā Hall and his two co-authors wrote in their study.
The danger in this āneither support nor opposeā mentality lies in its lukewarm approach to what matters and to which lines should or should not be crossed when it comes to protecting our democracy. And that, Hall said, is problematic because if the public isnāt willing to hold its leaders accountable, then thereās nothing to stop them from behaving in ways that undermine democracy.
Neutrality on both sides of the aisle
Hall, who is the David A. Potenziani Memorial College Professor of Constitutional Studies in 91³Ō¹Ļās and the director of the , conducted the research with , research fellow at the Rooney Democracy Institute, and , the Thomas A. and James J. Bruder Assistant Professor of Administrative Leadership in the .
Relying on data from two surveys they conducted in the summers of 2024 and 2025, and a third, larger survey sent weekly through the between 2022 and 2023, the researchers asked participants about their attitudes toward undemocratic practices. The questions included whether they agreed, disagreed or felt neutral when asked about their support for four examples of undemocratic practices: reducing outparty polling stations, ignoring outparty court decisions, remaining loyal to the party over the Constitution, and censoring partisan media.
Roughly 50 percent of participants checked the neutral category for at least one question. In contrast, outright agreement with undemocratic practices was much less common. But, between the two segments, up to two-thirds of respondents did not actively oppose undemocratic practices on the part of government officials, political candidates and leaders.
āNot actively opposing undemocratic practices is different than actively supporting democracy,ā Hall said.
Neutrality, the researchers noted, is especially concerning because it can be associated with authoritarianism, tolerance of norm violations, extremism, distrust and obscuring antidemocratic views.
Another, equally critical point, Hall said, is that this neutrality exists at similar rates on both sides of the aisle, among Republicans and Democrats, as well as nonpartisans.
Why voters remain neutral
The researchers identified several reasons that voters choose the āneither agree nor disagreeā category. Hall explained that some Americans tolerate politicians undermining democracy on a conditional basis if it means those entities enact policies they favor, but then they donāt like those same undemocratic decisions when made by leaders in the other party. They vote according to the mantra, āIt depends.ā
Some voters are just uncertain about which direction to lean, or believe they donāt have the knowledge or understanding to vote appropriately. Other voters are simply indifferent or apathetic ā they simply do not care about politics. Another group of neutrals are ambivalent toward the survey questions because they care strongly in two conflicting directions and feel indecisive. A fifth group actually supports antidemocratic policies but feels social pressure to say they donāt, so they feign neutrality.
āRegardless of why Americans express neutrality, those who do so are just as likely to vote for authoritarian politicians as the relatively small number of Americans (less than one in five) who explicitly support undemocratic practices,ā Hall said.
Potential solutions ahead of the 2026 midterms
Hall and his co-authors said that neutrality is not only a big problem, but itās also a problem that will take a novel approach to fix.
āThe problem is the people sitting on the sidelines, not paying attention or prioritizing short-term issues over the long-term stability of this country,ā Hall said. āThis will require a completely different approach with regard to persuasion strategy when you realize thatās the group we ā as proponents of American democracy ā need to be focusing on. Promoting democracy is going to look a little different than we thought.ā
What does that promotion look like then? Hall and his co-authors see the primaries for the approaching 2026 midterm elections as the next opportunity to encourage Americans to vote for candidates who will support and protect American democracy. Messaging will need to encourage voters to āvote against candidates who undermine American democracy ā even (and especially) if they are candidates from their own party,ā emphasizing that staying neutral will no longer suffice.
āAmerican politics have really been shaken in this last decade, particularly with regard to partisanship and polarization,ā Hall said.
āThe elites have lost control of the throttle and the mass public is driving ā and thatās not necessarily a bad thing if the mass public values democracy. But if they donāt value democracy, then we will spin out.ā
This research aligns with the , which aims to establish 91³Ō¹Ļ as a leader in the study of democracy both in the United States and worldwide, as a convenor for conversations about and actions to preserve democracy, and as a model for the formation of civically engaged citizens and public servants. The initiative also bridges research, education and policy work across multidisciplinary units.
The research was supported by the , which is dedicated to promoting scholarship, knowledge and dialogue on American democracy.
Contact: Tracy DeStazio, associate director of media relations, 574-631-9958 or tdestazi@nd.edu