Our new study tested 25 different approaches with both Republicans and Democrats. Here are three that made a difference.

American democracy is facing arguably its greatest stress test since the Civil War. Less than two years after an attack on the peaceful transfer of power, many prominent figures are undermining U.S. democratic ideals. More than 120 Republican nominees in the midterm elections deny that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, including prominent Senate candidates like Herschel Walker in Georgia and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, although not a single credible audit or court hearing has found evidence of election fraud.

Yet there is little sign that U.S. voters will punish candidates who are breaking democratic norms — such as acknowledging that their preferred candidate lost the last election. Research finds that the majority of voters of both major political parties report that they would continue to support their party’s candidate even if the candidate did such undemocratic things as reducing the number of polling stations in areas supporting the rival party or ignoring court decisions by judges appointed by someone in the other party.

But why do voters support undemocratic candidates? And what might motivate Americans to elevate democratic principles over partisan gain?