How do a country’s violations of international norms shape its image on the global stage? When do negative views of foreign governments extend to their citizens? This article investigates how norm violations influence public perceptions of foreign governments and their citizens, emphasizing the conditions under which these perceptions converge or diverge.

We argue that public responses to norm violations depend on geopolitical relations and the type of violation. Specifically, the public is less tolerant of norm violations by adversarial states or when the violations involve norms related to international security or human rights, as opposed to economic issues. Furthermore, the regime type of the offending country influences whether blame extends to its citizens. Citizens in democracies are more likely to be associated with their government’s actions due to perceptions of shared responsibility through electoral accountability. In contrast, citizens in autocracies are regarded as less complicit given their limited influence on policymaking. Therefore, negative images of a foreign democratic government are more likely to spill over to its citizens.

To test these arguments, we conducted a vignette-based survey experiment fielded on the American public. The results support our theory, showing that public perceptions of foreign governments and their citizens are shaped by the type of norm violation, the country’s political alignment, and its regime type. Our findings provide novel insights into how the public evaluates the behavior of foreign governments and their citizens, with important implications for understanding perceptions of democratic accountability, public diplomacy, and the consequences of international norm violations.