Abstract
The last decade of U.S. American political life has been described as “unprecedented times”. For many in the U.S., watching governmental norms erode and favor a select few elites over the common people signals that we are in a time of democratic backsliding. However, for People of Color (POC) in the United States, a fascist government working against one’s well-being is not novel. Thus, the goal of this work is to center POC perspectives and investigate factors associated with democratic attitudes among POC in the U.S. In Study 1, we examined a wide array of potential constructs pulled from a 2020 post-election survey. Overwhelmingly, beliefs about the shared nature of oppression emerged as a dominant predictor of democratic attitudes. In Study 2, we tested whether the relationship between beliefs about the shared nature of prejudice (e.g., Lay Theory of Generalized Prejudice; LTGP) and POC’s support for democratic norms replicated with established measures. Our findings demonstrate that LTGP is associated with greater support for democracy and the view that democracy upholds racial equity; however, only linked fate was significantly associated with support for democratic norms. This work highlights the importance of generalized views of prejudice and oppression for understanding POC’s endorsements of democratic values.