| Abstract |
Since Trump’s second presidency (Trump 2.0), the US has undergone substantive autocratization. Yet, little is known about whether citizens update this change in US democratic quality. I argue there are three perspectives to understand this updating process: (1) partisan motivated reasoning, (2) conceptions of democracy, and (3) citizens’ political interest and knowledge. To test for this change, I use the American National Election Studies (ANES) survey that was collected amid Trump’s ascendance to power. Using unexpected event during survey design, I find a precise drop in US democracy rating in Trump 2.0’s first 30 days, but the magnitude is small. I also compare this decrease with the estimates provided by various LLMs. Next, I examine which subgroup is more prone to update: the findings suggest this drop is mainly driven by Democrats and citizens with a liberal conception of democracy. I discuss how these findings contribute to the autocratization literature. |