Nearly half of all voters are skeptical that the American experiment in self-governance is working, with 45 percent believing that the nation’s democracy does not do a good job representing ordinary people, according to a new New York Times/Siena College poll.
Three-quarters of voters in the United States say democracy is under threat, though their perception of the forces imperiling it vary widely based on partisan leanings. And a majority of voters believe that the country is plagued by corruption, with 62 percent saying that the government is mostly working to benefit itself and elites rather than the common good.
The eroding faith in the nearly 250-year-old American system of government follows four years of unparalleled challenges: a violent riot in an attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, the criminal conviction of former President Donald J. Trump and Mr. Trump’s continued insistence that the democratic process is rigged.
Coupled with stubborn inflation, divisive culture wars and geopolitical crises, voters are expressing exasperation with American politics and a government that they believe has failed to serve them at the most basic level….
But against those broader headwinds, voters expressed confidence in the American process of selecting leaders in the upcoming election. Nearly 80 percent of voters — including a majority of Republicans, Democrats and independents — trust that the 2024 presidential election results will be accurate. Such trust is an improvement from two years ago, when about 70 percent of voters said they had confidence in the results of the midterm election. Americans pointed to the mainstream media and social media as particularly bad for democracy, though Republicans were more likely than Democrats to blame news outlets. But political polarization is also affecting Americans’ perception of what’s to blame.
Republicans view Vice President Kamala Harris, President Biden and Democrats in general as bad for democracy. They also cite voting by mail, electronic voting machines, immigration and even the Department of Justice.
Democrats see one central threat to democracy: Mr. Trump.
“He is a dictator incarnate,” said Jeffrey Braman, 51, a military veteran in Lansing, Mich. He expressed concern that “more than 70 million Americans believe in him,” referring to the number of votes Mr. Trump received in 2020. “More than 70 million. That means they want a king. Someone to dictate to them.”