# Most Americans withhold judgment on authoritarian critiques of democracy

Canonical page: https://data.verasight.io/culture/americans-are-divided-on-whether-authoritarian-critiques-of-democracy-hold-weight/

> Indexed question in Culture.

## Reading

When asked whether authoritarian governments' criticisms of democracies deserve to be taken seriously, more Americans agree than disagree, 34% to 28%, according to a December 2025 Verasight survey.

The largest group, though, takes no side, with 38% neither agreeing nor disagreeing. Strong views are uncommon at either end: 7% strongly agree and 10% strongly disagree.

## Topline

To what extent do you agree with the following statement: "When authoritarian countries criticize democracies for engaging in anti-democratic actions, their criticisms are legitimate and should be taken seriously."

Most Americans withhold judgment on authoritarian critiques of democracy.

Net findings combine adjacent response options from the same scale.

- Neither agree nor disagree: 38.2%
- Agree: 27.1%
- Disagree: 17.2%
- Strongly disagree: 10.4%
- Strongly agree: 7.1%

## Methodology

- Mode: Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
- Population: US adults age 18+
- Field dates: 2025-12-03 → 2025-12-08
- Base (unweighted): 1,000
- Margin of error: +/- 3.2%
- Module: tech_behavior
- Sponsor: Verasight
- Weight variable: weight
- Weighting targets: age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status

## Source

- Canonical question URL: [https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic#legitimacy-of-authoritarian-criticism-of-democratic-actions](https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic#legitimacy-of-authoritarian-criticism-of-democratic-actions)

## Citation

Verasight Human/LLM Comparison Survey #2025-172, fielded December 3-8, 2025, N=1,000 US adults age 18+, +/- 3.2%.

Canonical question URL: [https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic#legitimacy-of-authoritarian-criticism-of-democratic-actions](https://reports.verasight.io/r/verasight-human-v-synthetic#legitimacy-of-authoritarian-criticism-of-democratic-actions)