Americans increasingly – A new survey finds Americans preparing to mark the nation’s 250th anniversary in a far more guarded mood—worried about democratic rights, split over national pride, and deeply divided along partisan lines.
For many Americans, the build-up to the country’s 250th anniversary is not a wave of celebration. It’s a mood of unease.
A national survey of more than 5. 400 adults across all 50 states found a public that is sharply critical of President Donald Trump. increasingly pessimistic about democracy and the country’s direction. and divided over whether the American Dream still feels achievable. The survey also found respondents uneasy about U.S. unilateralism and military action—preferences that again tracked closely with party affiliation.
Nearly 60% of Americans agreed with the statement: “President Trump is a dangerous dictator whose power should be limited before he destroys American democracy.” More than two-thirds said the U.S. is “in real danger of losing important democratic rights and freedoms.”
Melissa Deckman. CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute. or PRRI. which conducted the survey. said the reaction is not subtle. “The fact that nearly seven in ten Americans believe we are in danger of losing critical rights and freedoms should set off alarm bells. ” Deckman said. “The partisan divide on this question represents a profound threat to the democratic experiment.”.
The survey’s political divide is striking. Democrats were most likely to say democracy is at risk, with independents also expressing strong concern, while Republicans were far more mixed.
When it comes to whether the U.S. should lead with restraint or force, the public lands heavily on cooperation. Seven in 10 respondents said they prefer the U.S. be “a reliable neighbor that cooperates with other nations and only uses military force as a last resort. ” compared with 27% who preferred it be “a mighty nation that does not hesitate to use military force to defend our interests.” Democrats (90%) and independents (75%) were much more likely to agree with the first statement. while Republicans favored the latter by a slim majority (52%).
PRRI founder and president Robert P. Jones said the same pattern appears across other questions—Americans broadly want pluralism and good-neighbor behavior. but internal coalitions do not align. “Americans overwhelmingly want a nation that embraces pluralism at home and behaves as a good global neighbor abroad,” Jones said. “On measure after measure. we find Republicans and white evangelicals embracing stances that are aligned with President Trump’s MAGA agenda but increasingly at odds with their fellow Americans.”.
Pride and identity are also split, and the stakes feel personal.
About half of respondents said they were either extremely or very proud to be American (51%) and proud of the nation’s 250-year history (49%). Yet even as pride is steadier than fear, concern about democratic freedoms runs deeper. While 68% of respondents agreed the nation risks losing important democratic rights and freedoms. the share was highest among Democrats (86%) and independents (70%). and mixed among Republicans (51%). Only 29% of Americans believe such rights “will remain protected into the future.”.
Cultural anxiety showed up as well. Most Americans (60%) agreed the nation is in danger of losing its culture and identity, up from 55% in the last decade. Those sentiments were highest among independents (59%. up from 52% in 2016) and Democrats (54%. up from 40%). while the share of Republicans who agree fell from 80% to 69%.
Samuel Kimbriel. founder and director of the Aspen Institute’s philosophy and society initiative in Washington. D.C. described the feeling as more than ideological conflict. “We’ve been in a decaying cycle around this for a while,” Kimbriel said. “Whichever party you associate with, there’s an overall feeling of deterioration and a lack of hope.”.
He said the roots extend beyond polarization. “It’s more that we’re aware that society as a whole is descending rather than ascending, and it’s not increasing our ability to achieve a deep moral vision,” Kimbriel said. “We’re not sure what the purpose of our country is, what holds us together.”
Even the American Dream—a central promise that hard work leads to better outcomes—doesn’t land evenly anymore. Respondents were torn over whether the American Dream still holds true, with 49% agreeing it does and 50% disagreeing.
Belief in the American Dream has fallen across age groups since 2024. the survey found. with the sharpest drop among those aged 18-29 (from 50% to 36%). Republicans still show the strongest belief (76%), but it has declined over time. The survey also found declines among Hispanics, Asian American/Pacific Islanders, women and young adults. Fewer than half of independents (46%) believe it holds true, while 30% of Democrats agreed.
Mark Rank. who teaches a course on the concept’s economic realities as a professor of social welfare at Washington University in St. Louis, said the Dream’s erosion is not abstract. “The American Dream is really core to our identity and what America is about,” Rank said. “The fact that it is in trouble is something we need to pay close attention to.”.
Rank argued that Americans’ view of the Dream soured because it has become harder to achieve over the last 50 years—both in the promise of getting ahead and in confidence that each generation will do better than the last. He pointed to wages for full-time male workers. saying they “have basically flatlined” since the early 1970s and that workers “’They’re not earning any more in real dollars today than back then. ” he said.
He tied that stagnation to rising costs in daily life. Housing, childcare, medical care and higher education are climbing, Rank said. “People are paying more for many things and not earning enough to keep up,” he said. “They’re playing by the rules but they’re going backwards.”
The survey also captured dissatisfaction with Trump that extends beyond ideological labeling.
Trump’s approval has fallen over the last two years from 41% to 34%, driven by independents and less committed Republicans, the survey found. The results of a Reuters/IPSOS poll released earlier this week pegged Trump’s approval rating at 36%.
About four in five Republicans hold favorable views of the president, compared with one in four independents and 5% of Democrats. Trump’s approval among Republicans fell to 79% from 84% in 2024 and among independents from 37% to 25%.
On the core question of democratic risk. a majority of Americans (59%) agreed with the characterization of Trump as “a dangerous dictator” who puts democracy at risk. including 91% of Democrats and 65% of independents. At the same time. 38%—including 78% of Republicans—agreed the president is “a strong leader who should be given the power he needs to restore America’s greatness.”.
Americans also judged Trump harshly on foreign and domestic matters. About two-thirds, or 66%, disapproved of Trump’s handling of the war in Iran, compared with 29% who approved. Republicans (67%) were most supportive, compared with 21% of independents and 4% of Democrats. For immigration, 58% disapproved of Trump’s handling, compared with 37% who approve.
Rank framed immigration in terms of the American Dream. “Immigrants are also part of the American Dream,” Rank said. “To come here is a big step; you don’t just do it on a whim. You come because you want a better life for you and your children.”
Faith, identity, and cultural perceptions add another layer to the picture. A solid majority of Americans prefer the country reflect a diversity of faiths and national backgrounds. Nearly two thirds, or 64%, said they prefer the U.S. consist of a wide range of faiths, versus 34% who believe the U.S. should be a Christian nation.
More than three-fourths, or 77%, said they prefer the U.S. represent people from all over the world, versus 20% who preferred it be mainly people of Western European background.
On Islam, 50% agreed the values of Islam are at odds with American values, a figure that has been consistent since 2011. But the view has become more fractured: Republicans were even more likely to agree (76%, up from 63%), while Democrats were less likely (30%, down from 40%).
Even favorability judgments reflected the split. More Americans hold favorable views of Pope Leo XIV (56%) than President Trump (34%). Trump had more approval only among Republicans and conservative white Christians. Fewer than half (47%) of Republicans view the pope favorably, compared with 55% of independents and 73% of Democrats.
For all the discord in the survey numbers. Kimbriel said the public’s clash of values may still be a sign of engagement—not resignation. “While a splintered society can on one hand seem dismaying. Kimbriel said he finds the raucous differences encouraging. ” the survey narrative reports. “There’s a feistiness in Americans that remains very robust,” he said. “It’s about figuring out how to draw that to the surface. where the clash of ideals can be productive rather than ripping at the social fabric. A country where people believe very strongly in certain things and want to fight for them is way closer to finding a path forward than one that’s listless.”.
In other words: as the nation heads toward its 250th anniversary, the survey finds Americans not only divided—but increasingly convinced that key freedoms may be slipping, with the future of the American Dream hanging in the balance.
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