Poll: 83% of Americans Worried About Future of US Democracy

The vast majority of Americans of all political persuasions are very or somewhat worried about the future of democracy in the country, according to a survey published Tuesday by USA Today and Suffolk University.

Concern for the future of American democracy was evenly distributed across both parties, with 82% of Democrats and 86% of Republicans expressing worry about the situation. Just 15% said they were “not very worried” or not at all worried about the future of American democracy.

The majority of respondents’ outlook regarding the future of democracy had also worsened over the preceding four years, with 71% reporting American democracy had weakened and just 18% arguing it had gotten stronger. Only 6% said it had remained the same.

Political outlook did predict Americans’ viewpoints on how democracy had evolved during that four-year period, but even the majority of liberal respondents (62%) agreed it had weakened, along with 84% of their conservative counterparts.

The poll’s results were even more alarming than those from an NPR/Ipsos poll released Monday, which found 64% of Americans believed US democracy was in crisis and at risk of failing.