Around the world, citizens are voting away the democracies they claim to cherish. Here we
present evidence that this behaviour is driven in part by the belief that their opponents will
undermine democracy first. In an observational study (N= 1,973), we find that US partisans
are willing to subvert democratic norms to the extent that they believe opposing partisans
are willing to do the same. In experimental studies (N= 2,543, N= 1,848), we revealed to
partisans that their opponents are more committed to democratic norms than they think. As a …

Around the world, citizens are voting away the democracies they claim to cherish. Why are
they voting against their own values? In this article, we provide evidence that this behavior is
driven in part by fear that their opponents might dismantle democracy first. In an
observational study (N= 1,973), we find that US partisans who most fear the other party's
willingness to subvert democracy are also those most willing to support subverting
democracy themselves. In an experimental study (N= 2,543), we use an intervention to …