Racial group affect and support for civil liberties in the United States

Abstract

ABSTRACT Civil liberties are a linchpin of liberal democracy, and are central to the practice and discourse of American politics. However, there is little research exploring whether or to what extent group attitudes influence public opinion on constitutionally guaranteed liberties. For this reason, we seek to shed light on whether the public actually views rights as fundamental, or whether attitudes toward groups – in this case, racial groups – moderate attitudes about civil liberties. We use a series of survey experiments to assess whether public support for constitutional protections – such as those found in the First, Second, and Fifth Amendments – is contingent on respondents’ attitudes toward the group identity of those benefiting from these protections. We show that while Americans do hold civil liberties in high esteem, attitudes toward a variety of constitutional rights are significantly conditioned by attitudes toward the group exercising a given right. Our findings indicate a gap between the ideal of civil liberties and what we see in reality, and suggest that racial attitudes may be endangering a core tenet of our political system.