Americans want a strongman president: Half of Republican voters and more than a third of Democrats back leader who will ‘bend the rules’ of democracy to achieve political goals

An alarming number of Americans want a president who will “bend” the rules of democracy to achieve political goals, a recent survey has shown.

To be precise, about half of Republicans surveyed said they would approve of such a leader, as did more than a third of participating Democrats.

The question – along with a number of others intended to predict the early stages of democratic decline – was asked to exactly 1,500 people across the US.

The surveys – designed to tap into participants' preconceived ideas about “American values” – show how citizens from both sides of the political spectrum demand a leader who would abandon the basic tenets of democracy if that protection and safety means.

The questions were posed by authors from Allegheny College in Pennsylvania and came in the form of statements – with interviewees asked to agree or disagree.

“To protect the interests of people like you, political leaders sometimes have to bend the rules to get things done,” reads one of the progressive council's statements.

In response, an astonishing 49 percent of Republicans (or roughly 735 people) said they agreed, along with an almost equally eye-watering 36 percent of Democrats.

That statistic accounts for about 700 people, many of whom will vote for Joe Biden in the upcoming election.

Perhaps even more shocking was a statement about press freedom and the First Amendment, and whether the interviewee's ideal leader would be willing to ignore these fundamental rights if it meant protecting “American values.”

“If political leaders believe that a news organization is trying to undermine American values, they should take action to shut down that news organization,” the statement said.

In turn, a surprising number of Republicans – about 72 percent – ​​answered in favor, compared to about 28 percent of Democrats.

Still, the later sample includes about 420 Americans—all of whom associate with the left—and nearly a third of all respondents.

In terms of Republicans, the statistics are even more alarming, as they represent approximately 1,080 of those surveyed.

A similar division was seen in a statement that appeared to reference Donald Trump — as well as countless dictators over the years who have targeted certain demographics during or after their rise to power.

It said: 'Political leaders sometimes have to use strong language to criticize entire groups who refuse to work hard and contribute to our country.'

In response, 67 percent of devout Republicans voted in favor, along with about 32 percent of Democrats.

With about two-thirds and one-third of all respondents surveyed, respectively, the results are nothing to sneeze at, the study authors wrote.

Compared to the now-revealed desires for unrest felt in countries like Venezuela under Hugo Chavez and his successor Nicolas Maduro, they described how they played with the minds of the participants by asking the question.

“In our study, we asked about behaviors that foreshadow the early stages of democratic decline, say political science professors Tarah Williams, Andrew Bloeser and Brian Harward.

“For example, we asked citizens if they thought that 'the only way our country can solve its current problems is by supporting tough leaders who will take tough action against those who undermine American values,'” they continued, citing the final statement of the research. with 59 percent of Republicans and 93 percent of Democrats agreeing.

We also asked about explicit violations of democratic principles, such as closing news organizations and bending the rules to get things done.

“Some of these questions allow citizens to provide their own interpretations of actions such as 'crackdown' and 'circumventing the rules,'” the scientists said of their psy-op.

“Our goal was to determine whether citizens were inclined toward leaders who seek power by promising retribution for some groups and benefits for others, because this rhetorical strategy often foreshadows explicit violations of democratic institutions.

“Similarly, the wording of our questions is designed to allow respondents to rely on their own ideas about the meaning of 'American values' and 'people like you,'” they revealed.

“We found that people who want this kind of protective but antidemocratic leadership style are by far the most likely to want leaders who take uncompromising, decisive action.

“These people didn't just want their side to win a political struggle for power. “They were literally willing to say they would 'bend the rules' to do this, a clear violation of the democratic ideal that everyone should follow the same rules,” they said.

The scholars concluded with an ominous warning about the country's future given the results.

“Leaders who actively promise anti-democratic action may come and go, but we fear that many Americans' appetite for such action may always remain a persistent threat.”