Personal Security vs. Civil Liberties after 9/11: Some Sobering Evidence from Sober Second Thoughts

Cusick on the survey. None of these organizations or individuals is responsible for our analyses or interpretations. Public opinion surveys following the terrorist attacks on America revealed that the citizens ’ perceptions of democratic norms and civil liberties were affected in important ways. Exposed to a high level of threat and vulnerability to future terrorist attacks as well as to governmental efforts to provide safety and security, citizens became more willing to accept restrictions on civil liberties for greater personal security. Relying on a series of survey experiments embedded in a national survey, this paper explores the extent to which greater deliberation over rights leads to greater support for democratic norms. We argue that under high levels of threat, such as that experienced in the context of 9/11, citizens may find it particularly difficult to shut off their sense of threat and anxiety. Deliberating on their sense of threat and anxiety leads to greater willingness to restrict civil liberties, even in the face of attempts to moderate them. Our results show that people find it easier to accept restrictions on civil liberties than to support civil liberties. Equally important, among whites and Hispanics, when their initial willingness to concede civil liberties is challenged by counter-arguments, people accept more extreme concessions of civi