Americans Saw Their Country As More Politically Stable After the Capitol Assault. Why?

Historic events can change a country’s global brand – and may affect whether its citizens want to even vote.

PHILADELPHIA — On Jan. 6, 2021, a group of then-President Donald Trump supporters broke into the Capitol building during a joint session of Congress that was certifying Joe Biden as the next president. This event was met with shock, anger, and embarrassment by Americans on both sides of the political spectrum. In addition, the images of Jan. 6 were spread all around the world as news outlets were quick to comment on such a significant American event.

Subsequently, there has been an abundance of commentary on the effects of Jan. 6 on our country, our citizens and the rest of the world. However, most of this has just been speculation … until now. In collaboration with the U.S. News & World Report Best Countries Rankings and BAV Consulting, we annually survey people around the world on their views of various countries. This year’s survey was delayed to capture the influence of the U.S. presidential election. It was fortuitous that Jan. 6 fell in the middle of our data collection. This allowed us to compare the 

We divided these results into perceptions that the world had of the United States pre- and post-Jan 6, and perceptions that U.S. citizens had of their own country before and after Jan. 6. In effect, any changes we see of the American image can be said to be caused by the protest — a true incident analysis. Continue reading.