A new Kettering Foundation-Gallup survey finds Americans increasingly dissatisfied with how U.S. democracy is functioning, even as two-thirds continue to regard democracy as the best form of government.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
A majority of Americans now believe democracy in the United States is performing poorly, with confidence declining over the past year even as public support for democracy itself remains largely intact, according to a new nationwide survey.
Fifty-six percent of U.S. adults said democracy is doing either “very” or “moderately” poorly, an increase from 51% in 2025. Only 19% said it is performing very or moderately well, down from 23% last year, according to the Kettering Foundation-Gallup Democracy for All Project.
The worsening assessment has not produced a comparable decline in support for democratic government as an ideal. Sixty-six percent said democracy is the best form of government, essentially unchanged from the previous year. Gallup described the results as showing “commitment to democracy holding steady” even as assessments of its current performance deteriorate.
Much of the year-to-year change came from Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
The proportion of Republicans who said U.S. democracy is working well fell 10 percentage points, from 47% in 2025 to 37% this year. Among Republican-leaning independents, the share declined from 34% to 26%.
Democrats, Democratic-leaning independents and independents who do not lean toward either major party showed comparatively little change, with majorities in those groups continuing to rate the country’s democratic performance poorly. Gallup said the overall shift toward more negative assessments was driven largely by growing dissatisfaction among Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.
The survey also found increasing skepticism about elections.
Thirty-three percent of Americans said it is reasonable to assume election officials acted improperly when an election produces a surprising result, up from 29% in the previous survey.
The movement was particularly pronounced among Republicans age 65 and older. Forty-two percent in that group said surprising election outcomes provide reasonable grounds to suspect improper conduct by election officials, compared with 30% a year earlier.
The findings come as Americans express broader concerns about whether government institutions and political leaders operate within constitutional limits.
Fifty-six percent said the rule of law is weaker in the United States than it was 10 years ago, four times the 14% who said it has become stronger. Another 29% said it is approximately unchanged.
Views of government power were similarly negative.
Fifty-nine percent of U.S. adults said the executive branch has too much power. By comparison, 38% said the judiciary holds too much power and 34% said the legislative branch does.
Opinions about presidential power differed sharply along partisan lines.
Eighty-two percent of Democrats and 64% of independents said the executive branch is too powerful, compared with 25% of Republicans.
The survey separately found a substantial divide between what Americans expect from public officials and whether they believe those expectations are enforced. While 78% said government officials must always follow the law and Constitution, only 28% trusted that political leaders would actually be held accountable when they fail to do so.
Americans were also more likely to view the country’s democratic system as having deteriorated over the longer term.
As the United States marks its 250th anniversary, 60% said American democracy was either somewhat or much stronger 50 years ago than it is today.
Expectations for the next half-century were also more pessimistic than optimistic.
Forty-five percent said they expect U.S. democracy to become weaker during the next 50 years, while 31% expect it to grow stronger.
Americans were considerably more positive when evaluating government closer to home.
Thirty-four percent said democracy in their own city or town is working very or moderately well. Twenty-one percent rated local democracy poorly, while 44% described it as functioning “OK.” Gallup said respondents generally expressed more confidence in local democratic institutions, local leaders and the ability of ordinary citizens to create change than they did at the national level.
When respondents were asked an open-ended question about the single most important step that could improve American democracy, changing political leadership or replacing incumbent officeholders was the most common response, cited by 17%.
Responses in that category frequently focused on replacing the current national leadership, including President Donald Trump, while respondents from across the political spectrum also called for removing officeholders they opposed.
Another 13% proposed changes to elections and voting. Suggestions in that category included voter identification requirements, changes intended to make voting more accessible and abolishing the Electoral College. Limiting executive power was separately cited by 9% of respondents.
The results depict an electorate that remains supportive of democracy in principle while expressing growing dissatisfaction with its institutions, political leaders and safeguards.
Gallup reported that 49% now disagree that U.S. leaders are committed to maintaining a strong democracy, up from 44% in 2025. The share saying they feel comfortable openly expressing opinions about government and laws also declined, from 52% last year to 47%.
The survey was conducted among 23,683 U.S. adults from April 24 through June 10, 2026.
Of those respondents, 21,652 completed the survey online between April 24 and May 21, while 2,031 participated by mail through June 10. The maximum margin of sampling error was plus or minus 1 percentage point at the 95% confidence level.
The overall findings present a distinction between Americans’ views of democracy as a system and their assessment of its current operation: roughly two-thirds continue to say democratic government is the best form available, while 56% now say the version they are experiencing in the United States is performing poorly.
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