According to a new poll, more than half of Republicans and Democrats believe the United States will no longer remain a “democracy” at some point in the future. The shocking findings were first reported in a Yahoo News/YouGov survey, which found that 53% of Republicans and 55% of Democrats said it is “likely” the U.S. will “cease to be a democracy in the future.”
The poll was unclear on how “democracy” is defined. Officially, the U.S. is a federal constitutional republic where states run direct elections for most high offices — except, most notably, for the president. When non-affiliated and independent polled voters were factored in, the belief was shared by 49% of all respondents. Twenty-five percent of respondents said they were unsure, while 25% said they think the end of democracy is “unlikely.”
Sixty-one percent of Republicans and 60% of Democrats believe America is becoming a “less democratic country.” Both ends of the political spectrum believe they were treated more fairly “in the past” compared to the present by a margin of 50% of Democrats and 71% of Republicans.
The poll also found that 50% of independents, 52% of Republicans, and 46% of Democrats believe “there will be a civil war in the United States in [their] lifetime.”
Parties blame each other for state of America
Although there appears bipartisan hopelessness about the future of America, poll respondents were quick to blame each other for the current situation. Thirty percent of Republicans described Democrats as “out of touch with reality.” Twenty-five percent of Republicans also claimed Democrats were a “threat to America.” An additional 8% of Republicans see Democrats as “immoral.” Another 4% said the party was a “threat to me personally.”
Opinions of Democrats of Republicans were similar, with 27% saying the GOP is “out of touch with reality.” Another 23% say they are a “threat to America,” 7% claim Republicans are “immoral,” and 4% call it a “threat to me personally.”
The poll also asked voters about the ongoing hearings held by the House select committee. Respondents were not impressed. Twenty-four percent of respondents say they watched the beginning of sessions, while 27% said they followed coverage after the fact. However, 49% said they are not following the hearings at all.
The January 6 committee is seeking to convince Americans that the Capitol incident was part of a bigger conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. However, 45% of Americans believe the claim, 35% said they did not believe it was, and 20% said they were unsure. Thirty-seven percent of poll respondents believe that “Donald Trump was at the center” of the plot to keep him in power.
The survey was conducted from June 10 to 13 and included 1,541 American adults and carries a margin of error of approximately 2.9%.
