Americans Are Widely Pessimistic About The State Of Democracy In Pbs

Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press Nicholas Riccardi, Associated Press Linley Sanders, Associated Press Linley Sanders, Associated Press WASHINGTON (AP) — Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center... Majorities of adults say U.S. laws and policies do a poor job of representing what most Americans want on issues ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion.

The poll shows 53 percent say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16 percent who say it’s doing a good job. The findings illustrate widespread political alienation as a polarized country limps out of the pandemic and into a recovery haunted by inflation and fears of a recession. In interviews, respondents worried less about the machinery of democracy — voting laws and the tabulation of ballots — and more about the outputs. FILE - Protester David Barrows carries a sign during a rally to press Congress to pass voting rights protections and the “Build Back Better Act,” Monday, Dec. 13, 2021, in Washington. A new poll finds that only about 1 in 10 U.S.

adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky, File) FILE - In this Jan. 26, 2020, file photo, people cheer as Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a campaign rally in Sioux City, Iowa. A new poll finds that only about 1 in 10 U.S.

adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans. (AP Photo/John Locher, File) FILE - A Republican supporter holds a “Save America” sign at a rally for former President Donald Trump at the Minden Tahoe Airport in Minden, Nev., Saturday, Oct. 8, 2022. A new poll finds that only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans.(AP Photo/José Luis Villegas, Pool, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center... Majorities of adults say U.S. laws and policies do a poor job of representing what most Americans want on issues ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion. The poll shows 53% say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16% who say it’s doing a good job. About three-quarters of Americans say democracy is under serious threat, according to a new poll from NPR, PBS News and Marist.

A similar number also see politically motivated violence as a major problem. Ahead of the Independence Day holiday and the country's 249th birthday, three-quarters of Americans say democracy is under serious threat. That's according to a new poll from NPR, PBS News and Marist. A similar number also see politically motivated violence as a major problem. MARTIN: NPR political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro is here to talk about these results, as well as the general atmosphere around politics in this country right now. Good morning, Domenico.

MARTIN: So let's start with this question about the state of democracy. What did the poll ask, and what stood out to you about the answers? While Democrats have grown more concerned than ever about weakening democracy at home, Republican worries have sharply declined. In recent years, the combination of political polarization, contentious elections, and unchecked executive power in the United States have put American democracy at risk. Data from the 2025 Chicago Council Survey, fielded July 18–30, 2025, show weakening democracy is top of mind for most Americans, but Democrats and Independents are more likely to view it as a critical... Out of a broad range of potential threats to the United States, weakening democracy and government corruption stand out as the two most critical to American interests in the next decade.

Nearly two-thirds of Americans (65%) think weakening democracy poses a critical threat to the United States, while an additional 25 percent think it is an important but not quite critical threat. Just one in 10 Americans do not view weakening democracy as an important threat at all (9%). window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var e=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var t in a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r,i=0;r=e[i];i++)if(r.contentWindow===a.source){var d=a.data["datawrapper-height"][t]+"px";r.style.height=d}}}); The data suggest that partisans see democratic erosion very differently: far more Democrats (82%) and Independents (63%) than Republicans (49%) view the weakening of democracy as a critical threat to the United States in... There are some differences within the parties as well. For instance, Liberal Democrats are more likely than Moderate Democrats to think that this is a critical threat (88% vs.

74%, respectively).1Yet MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans view the threat of weakening democracy at similar levels (47% and 52%).2 Sept. 15 is the United Nations’ International Day of Democracy, an annual moment to assess the health of democracy around the world. Unfortunately, as numerous studies have demonstrated, democracy has been in decline in many nations in recent years. Americans are unhappier and more divided than most about the state of their democracy, and particularly gloomy about its prospects for improvement. The United States is no exception.

In fact, Americans are unhappier and more divided than most about the state of their democracy, and particularly gloomy about its prospects for improvement. Americans certainly haven’t given up on democracy, but if the U.S. is going to turn around these negative trends, we may need a renewed democratic imagination and a new, broad-based conception of American identity to see past what feel like insurmountable obstacles. The country’s notably grim political mood and desire for change show up across many survey questions. Cross-national surveys at Pew Research Center show Americans are among the most dissatisfied with the functioning of their democracy, and they are particularly negative on whether politicians care what voters think. In a 2021 Center survey of adults in 17 advanced economies, 85% in the U.S.

said their political system needs major changes or needs to be completely reformed. Italy and Spain were the only countries we surveyed where larger shares of the public expressed this view. Despite the desire for change, most Americans who said the U.S. political system needs to be fixed also said they are not confident it could be changed effectively. Americans across the political spectrum believe democracy is under threat as partisan divisions deepen and politically motivated threats and attacks mount, a new poll found. Around three-quarters of Americans feel that U.S.

divisiveness poses a “serious threat to democracy,” according to the NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released on Tuesday. The survey, conducted from June 23 to 25 in the wake of U.S. airstrikes on Iran and the shootings of two Minnesota lawmakers and their spouses, found that 89% of Democrats, 80% of independents, and 57% of Republicans believe the future of democracy is threatened. The recent shootings may have been fresh in respondents’ minds: 73% called politically motivated violence a major problem in the U.S., compared to the 23% that called it a minor problem. Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, Mark, were tragically killed in the attacks on June 14.

Democratic state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, were shot multiple times and hospitalized. From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important... At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it. Only about 1 in 10 U.S. adults give high ratings to the way democracy is working in the United States or how well it represents the interests of most Americans, according to a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center... Majorities of adults say U.S.

laws and policies do a poor job of representing what most Americans want on issues ranging from the economy and government spending to gun policy, immigration and abortion. The poll shows 53% say Congress is doing a bad job of upholding democratic values, compared with just 16% who say it’s doing a good job.

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