Democratic Backsliding Damages Favorable U.S. Image Among the Global Public

This paper examines whether signs of democratic backsliding affect the U.S. global image. Scholars and policymakers raise concerns that democratic backsliding causes foreign citizens to view the U.S. less favorably. Additionally, backsliding may undercut U.S. ability to win foreign policy cooperation. Our multinational survey experiments show that information about U.S. democratic backsliding decreases favorability toward the U.S. However, we find little evidence that this information decreases support for cooperation with the U.S. It appears that America's ability to garner support for critical policies is resilient to perceptions of diminished democracy in some countries.