Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World

From Businesses and Banks to Colleges and Churches: Americans’ Views of U.S. Institutions

2. Small and large businesses, banks, and technology companies

Small businesses

Americans’ views of small businesses have become more positive over the past year: 86% now say that small businesses are having a positive effect on the way things are going in the country these days, up from 80% in October 2022.

Overwhelming majorities of both Democrats (88%) and Republicans (87%) view small businesses positively.

Large corporations, banks and financial institutions

Chart shows Modest partisan differences in views of big businesses and technology companies

Members of both partisan coalitions also have nearly identical – and mostly negative – opinions of banks and financial institutions and large corporations.

Just 38% each among Republicans and Democrats view banks positively. Republicans have become notably less positive toward banks in recent years; in 2019, a 63% majority of Republicans had a positive opinion of how banks affected the country. Democrats’ attitudes are mostly unchanged over this period.

Republicans and Democrats have similarly negative opinions of large corporations – just 32% of Republicans and 26% of Democrats view their impact positively. As is the case with banks, Republicans are less positive toward large corporations than they were five years ago (54% in 2019).

Technology companies

Democrats are somewhat more positive than Republicans toward technology companies (58% vs. 49%). While Democrats’ opinions are little changed over the past five years, Republicans’ views turned less positive between 2019 and 2021, declining 20 percentage points (from 58% to 38%). Republicans have become more positive since then.

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