Declining Faith in Democracy: A Growing Concern Among Americans
About half of U.S. adults believe democracy is functioning “very” or “moderately” poorly in the United States, while only around one-quarter think it’s doing “very” or “moderately” well, according to a new poll. This marks a sharp decline from several decades ago when majorities thought democracy was generally working the way it should. The Kettering Foundation-Gallup survey found that about two-thirds of Americans “strongly agree” or “agree” that democracy is the best form of government.
Very few disagree, with about one-third saying they don’t have an opinion. However, alongside the widespread disappointment in how democracy is working, few believe the country’s leaders are committed to democratic governance or think government decisions reflect the will of the people. More than 4 in 10 Americans do not believe their leaders are committed to having a strong democracy, while about 3 in 10 say they’re not sure.
FILE – Demonstrators carry a signed banner representing the U.S. Constitution as they march to the national Mall during a No Kings protest in Washington, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)
Dissatisfaction with Democracy Across Party Lines
The sense that democracy is not working is more widespread among Democrats, whose party is out of power. Doug Perry, a 55-year-old 3D modeler in Sarasota, Florida, blames President Donald Trump and cites the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol to overturn Trump’s loss in the 2020 election as evidence that many Americans no longer believe in democracy.
Only those who identify as “strong” Republicans are substantially more likely than Democrats and independents to say democracy is performing “very” or “moderately” well. However, not all Republicans share this view. Bobbi Black, a Republican who is a retired nurse in suburban Des Moines, Iowa, is not one of them. She cited the recent government shutdown, the longest on record, and Congress’ general inability to agree to bipartisan deals as bad signs for democracy.
Low Confidence in Congress and the Criminal Justice System
A separate Gallup poll conducted in 2023 found that only about 3 in 10 U.S. adults were “satisfied” with the way democracy was working, compared to about 6 in 10 who expressed satisfaction with how it was functioning in 1984, when Gallup began to ask the question in its surveys. The Gallup survey found that in the U.S., people who are struggling economically are especially likely to have a sour view of democracy’s performance.
FILE – A person holds an American flag upside-down during a “No Kings” protest Oct. 18, 2025, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
No more than one-third of Americans say that any of the country’s systems, branches of government or democratic ideals are performing “very” or “moderately” well. Only about 2 in 10 believe that Congress, the criminal justice system, the division of power between federal, state and local governments, and the division of power among branches of government are doing well.
Mixed Views About the Ease of Voting
One bright spot is that most Americans feel the way elections are administered is going at least “okay.” Only about 3 in 10 believe it is reasonable to assume that those who oversee elections have acted improperly when election outcomes are surprising, while about one-third neither agree nor disagree and about one-third don’t think this is true. Only about 1 in 10 think voting procedures and laws do not make it easy for people like them to vote.
Jesse Sutton, a 54-year-old who works in school finance in Detroit, said he finds voting easy in Michigan but worries about how some Republican-run states have tightened their rules on how to cast ballots. The Kettering Foundation-Gallup survey of 20,338 U.S. adults was conducted in English between July 7 and Aug. 25.
The margin of error for the full sample was 0.9%. For more information on the survey and its findings, visit Here
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