RAPID: WAR, SOCIETY, AND DEMOCRACY

WAR, SOCIETY AND DEMOCRACY The project offers a systematic assessment of the social forces sustaining support for political freedoms in states under military attack. Whereas most existing research emphasizes domestic factors, this study will undertake an innovative examination of external impacts on public support for democratic institutions and practices under wartime conditions. New survey data will be collected and analyzed, and the findings will provide new insights into wartime public opinion and how allies through their policies can help sustain support for democracy under the difficult conditions of war. The researchers will utilize a panel design for three waves of surveys to be conducted over the course of one year. Data will be collected on respondents’ preferences for political freedoms and institutions, and on specific war impacts on individuals, expectations of war duration and outcome; pride in citizenship; international alliance preferences; perceived threats to their security and state security; and transnational media impacts. Advanced quantitative techniques will be used to estimate between- and within-subject effects of war onset and duration on democracy support with controls for potential confounders. The findings will contribute to basic research on wartime public opinion, wartime alliances, and the resilience of democracy under wartime conditions. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.