According to a recent survey, only one out of ten American adults is satisfied with how well the country’s democracy functions or represents the interests of the majority of citizens.
A poll conducted and released on Friday by the Associated Press-NORC Public Affairs Research Center found that the majority of adults believe that US laws and policies fall short of reflecting what the majority of Americans want on a variety of topics, including the economy, government spending, gun control, immigration, and abortion.
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Only 16% of respondents to the poll say Congress has done an acceptable job upholding democratic values, while 53% say it hasn’t done a good job.
The results also point to widespread political alienation as a divided nation emerges from the pandemic and recovers, burdened by inflation and worries about a recession. In the interviews, participants expressed more concern about the outcomes than they did about the democratic machinery, such as voting procedures and vote tally.
The majority of Americans, or 49%, believe that democracy in the United States is ineffective, as opposed to 10% who believe it to be extremely or very effective and 40% who believe it to be only somewhat effective. The majority of political parties, including 47 percent of Democrats and even more (56 percent) of Republicans, also believe that no political party is doing a good job of upholding democracy.
According to the survey, 53% of Americans believe that “people like you” are not adequately represented in government, compared to 35% who believe this to be the case and 12% who believe this to be the case. Compared to 4 in 10, more Republicans and independents than Democrats believe that the government does not adequately represent people like them.
According to Karalyn Kiessling, a researcher at the University of Michigan who took part in the survey, there are alarming trends in society. He is a Democrat who recently relocated to a conservative neighborhood outside of the liberal Ann Arbor campus because he is concerned that conspiracy theorists who believe former President Donald Trump’s lies that he will win the 2020 election are turning into poll watchers.
The poll finds that while a resounding 71 percent of Americans believe that what most Americans want should be the most important factor when formulating laws and policies, only 48 percent believe that can actually be the case.
A majority of adults say that government spending, abortion, gun, and immigration policies do not reflect the views of most Americans.
A similar percentage say the same about the economy, gender identity, and LGBTQ+ issues.
Opinions on specific issues are even more negative. Additionally, more than half of respondents say the policies do not adequately reflect what Americans want for the environment and health care.
