Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World
Read our research on:
Americans’ views of politics and elected officials are unrelentingly negative, with little hope of improvement on the horizon. 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. By contrast, just 10% say they always or often feel hopeful about politics.
While trust in the federal government hovers near a historic low, public views of Congress, the Supreme Court and the president also are quite negative. However, people’s ratings of the job performance of their own congressional representative – in contrast with views of Congress as a whole – are more positive than negative. Their assessments […]
Today, two-in-ten Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what is right just about always (2%) or most of the time (19%). Trust in government has remained at roughly this low level for more than a decade. Since the 2007-2008 financial crisis, no more than about a quarter of Americans have expressed […]
The public sees a number of specific problems with American politics. Partisan fighting, the high cost of political campaigns, and the outsize influence of special interests and lobbyists are each seen as characteristic of the U.S. political system by at least 84% of Americans. Yet 63% also say that “ordinary Americans care about making the […]
65% say most political candidates run for office “to serve their own personal interests.”