{"id":45959,"date":"2023-09-19T11:55:10","date_gmt":"2023-09-19T16:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/2023\/09\/19\/americans-feelings-about-politics-polarization-and-the-tone-of-political-discourse\/"},"modified":"2024-12-20T13:29:30","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T18:29:30","slug":"americans-feelings-about-politics-polarization-and-the-tone-of-political-discourse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/politics\/2023\/09\/19\/americans-feelings-about-politics-polarization-and-the-tone-of-political-discourse\/","title":{"rendered":"11. Americans\u2019 feelings about politics, polarization and the tone of political discourse"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In many ways, Americans\u2019 emotions toward politics today are as negative as their evaluations of the country\u2019s political system<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Majorities say they always or often feel exhausted (65%) and angry (55%) when thinking about politics these days, while relatively few report feeling hopeful (10%) or excited (4%) with this much frequency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the public\u2019s weariness with politics, most Americans still believe voting can make a difference. Nearly six-in-ten (57%) say voting can have at least some effect on the country\u2019s future, though just 20% say it can affect it a lot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And more people say voting can bring about positive change than say that about volunteering for an organization or political group, donating to charity or a political campaign, or running for office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Politics in a single word or phrase: An outpouring of negative sentiments<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

When asked to describe politics in the United States these days in a single word or phrase, an overwhelming majority of Americans (79%) express a negative sentiment. Just 2% offer a positive word or phrase, while 10% say something neutral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The word \u201cdivisive\u201d (and variations such as \u201cdividing\u201d) appears most frequently among the responses, with 8% saying this. An additional 2% use the related term \u201cpolarized.\u201d Second-most frequent is \u201ccorrupt\u201d (chosen by 6% of respondents), consistent with the views many Americans express elsewhere in the survey that politicians are looking out only for their own interests<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other common words include those that suggest that politics today just doesn\u2019t work, with \u201cmessy,\u201d \u201cchaos,\u201d \u201cbroken\u201d and \u201cdysfunctional\u201d each among the top 15 words. And many respondents are even more negative in their views: \u201cterrible,\u201d \u201cdisgusting,\u201d \u201cdisgrace\u201d and the phrase \u201cdumpster fire\u201d each are cited by at least 1% of survey respondents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Negative emotions prevail when Americans think about politics <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Nearly two-thirds of adults (65%) say they always or often feel exhausted when they think about politics these days. Another 25% sometimes feel exhausted, while 9% rarely or never feel this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A majority (55%) also always or often feels angry when thinking about politics; just 11% say they rarely or never feel this way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A much smaller share of the public reports frequently feeling positive emotions when thinking about politics: One-in-ten always or often feel hopeful, and just 4% feel excited about this frequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A majority of adults (56%) say they rarely or never feel hopeful, and 78% rarely or never feel excited when thinking about politics these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most politically engaged are the most exhausted and angry<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Those who have the highest levels of engagement with politics are also the most likely to report exhaustion and anger when they think about politics these days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among highly politically engaged adults, 72% report feeling exhausted by politics always or often. The shares who say this decline as political engagement decreases: 68% of adults with a medium level of engagement and 56% of those with a low level of engagement feel exhausted always or often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A similar pattern holds for anger: 69% of highly engaged adults say they always or often feel angry when thinking about politics, compared with 55% of those with a medium level of engagement and 43% of those with a low level of engagement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents are slightly more likely than Democrats and Democratic leaners to say they always or often feel angry when thinking about politics these days. But in both parties highly engaged adults are more likely to feel negative than those who are less engaged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, highly politically engaged Republicans are 24 percentage points more likely than Republicans with a low level of engagement to always or often feel angry about politics (72% vs. 48%). And highly engaged Democrats are 23 points more likely to say this than Democrats with a low level of political engagement (65% vs. 42%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Americans say the tone of political debate in the country has worsened<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The public feels that the tone and nature of political debate has become less respectful and fact-based over the last several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An overwhelming 84% majority of adults say political debate has become less respectful over the last several years, while only 4% say it has become more respectful. About one-in-ten (12%) say it hasn\u2019t changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, 78% say political debate has become less fact-based over the last several years, while only 5% say it has become more fact-based. Just 16% say it has not changed much.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large majorities of adults in all political and demographic groups say that the tone and nature of political debate has become less respectful and fact-based in recent years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Public evaluations today are nearly identical to views four years ago<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Which political topics get too much \u2013 and too little \u2013 attention?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
\"Chart<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Large majorities of Americans say several political topics receive too little attention:<\/p>\n\n\n\n