We estimate the commitment to democracy among a large sample of Europeans. Rather than asking about support for democracy directly, we present subjects with a series of election scenarios in which candidates feature realistic policy platforms and (some) are experimentally assigned to endorse positions that violate key democratic principles. Subjects’ candidate choices in turn reveal their willingness to prioritize in their political choices democratic principles over partisan interests. We estimate the distribution of commitment to democracy across both individuals and countries, estimate the elasticity of substitution between democratic principles and a range of policy issues, and differentiate between democratic commitment to fair elections, civil liberties, and checks and balances. Our estimates of commitment to democracy predict the vote for candidates who undermine democracy better than standard, direct questioning measures.