More than half of Democrats AND Republicans believe America will “cease to exist” as a democracy, new polls show
- 55% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans think it is “probable” that America will “cease to be a democracy.”
- A new Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows surprising levels of pessimism about the US
- Many believe that the US will experience another civil war
- Most Americans aren’t watching the Jan. 6 hearings either
- The poll also reveals bipartisan resentment, with both sides using negative terms to describe members of the opposing political party
More than half of all Americans think it’s “probable” that America will “cease to be a democracy,” according to a new poll.
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll shows that 55% of Democrats and 53% of Republicans share this belief, a startling sign of pessimism about the country’s future.
In addition, the poll found that a majority of Republicans — 52% — say it’s likely “there will be a civil war in the United States [their] for life,” while half of independents — 50% — and a majority of Democrats — 46% — agree.
The survey, which surveyed 1,541 adults and was conducted from June 10 (the day of the first hearing on Jan. 6) to June 13 (the day of the second hearing), also found that Americans have largely given up on each other.
Members of both parties chose negative phrases to describe the person on the other political side.
When Republicans were asked to choose the phrase that “best describes most of the people on the other side of the political aisle from you,” a majority used “ineffective” (30%), a “threat to America” (25% ), “immoral” (8%) and a “threat to me personally” (4%) to describe Democrats.
Very few opted for “well intentioned” (4%) or “not so different from me” (6%).
Democrats felt the same about Republicans, using terms like “ineffective” (27%), “a threat to America” (23%), “immoral” (7%), and “a threat to me personally” (4%) to describe them describe.
Very few used words like “well intentioned” (7%) or “not so different from me” (5%).
Most respondents in the new poll did not watch the first prime-time hearing on the Jan. 6 uprising
Bipartisanship is reaching acrimonious proportions in all parts of the country, from congressional halls to state legislatures to the verbal battle on social media.
A rise in natural levels in an election year, but resentment has been heightened in the post-Covid world.
And national events continue to keep the country divided, including hearings of the House Committee of Inquiry into the January 6 riot.
Just 1 in 4 – 24% – said they saw the first prime-time hearing last Thursday on the uprising. Almost half – 49% – say they have not followed the hearings at all.
The Yahoo News/YouGov poll found that less than half of Americans — 45% — believe the Jan. 6 attack “was part of a conspiracy to overthrow the election.” The rest either say it wasn’t – 35% – or they’re not sure – 20%.
Likewise, only 37% of Americans believe there was a conspiracy and that “Donald Trump was the focus [it].’
The poll also found that the number of Americans that respondents describe as “primarily peaceful and law-abiding” (30%) on Jan. 6 has also increased by 6 points (from 24%) since December.
And the number of Americans attributing “major” blame to Trump for the Jan. 6 attack fell 6 points (from 45% to 39%).