User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Bright Line Watch

Bright Line Watch is a group of political scientists that monitor resilience and potential threats in democratic practices. John M. Carey, Gretchen Helmke, Brendan Nyhan, and Susan C. Stokes. are co-directors. Funders include William & Flora Hewlett Foundation, Democracy Fund, and Yale MacMillan Center.

Conferences
On October 6, 2017, the first Bright Line Watch conference entitled "How Do Democracies Fall Apart? (And Could It Happen Here?)", was held at at Yale University’s MacMillan Center.

General Public Surveys
In September 2017 they did a General Public Survey.

Expert Surveys
They undertook three Expert Surveys in three waves, in February, May and September 2017. In their October 5, 2017 report entitled "The Health of American Democracy: Comparing Perceptions of Experts and the American Public", they published the results of surveys on what democratic principles Americans value. This is the list in descending order, from most important to least important: Fraud-free elections, Equal voting rights, Equal political/legal rights, Investigations not compromised, Sanctions for misconduct, No foreign influence, Constitution limits executive, Opinions heard on policy, Votes have equal impact, Judicial independence, Protest tolerated, No private gains from office, Agencies do not punish, All parties allowed, Free speech, Legislature can limit executive, Judiciary can limit executive, Common understanding of facts, Participation high, Districts not biased, No interference with press, Campaign funds transparent, Contribs not determine policy, No political violence, Compromise sought, and Patriotism not questioned. The most polarity was found on these principles: “Elections are free from foreign influence”, “Government does not interfere with journalists or news organizations”, “The legislature is able to effectively limit executive power”, and “The judiciary is able to effectively limit executive power”."