Most Voters Think America’s Divisions Cannot Be Overcome, Poll Says

Americans have markedly less faith in the ability of the country’s political system to solve problems than they had five years ago, with a large majority now believing that the country is incapable of overcoming its deep divisions, according to a poll by The New York Times and Siena University.

Even in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, when the country was fighting over mask mandates and forced to reckon with questions about racial inequality, a majority of voters still agreed that the country was capable of solving its political problems.

Today, just 33 percent of voters feel the same.

The steep rise in pessimism reflects a striking shift in the public’s perceptions about what ails the country. After the economy, the poll found that Americans were most likely to point to problems in the political culture as the most urgent. They named polarization and the state of democracy more often than immigration, inflation or crime.

The Times/Siena poll of 1,313 registered voters, taken between Sept. 22 and 27, was conducted at an especially fraught moment, roughly two weeks after the assassination of the right-wing activist Charlie Kirk. {snip}

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Overall, however, the poll captured an electorate at a moment when it was struggling with deep doubts about the vitality of American democracy.

A majority of Americans — 55 percent — said they would describe the United States as “a democratic country.” But a sizable portion, 41 percent, disagreed, including 52 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of independents.

The poll also revealed how deeply entrenched partisanship has become. Half of the voters say Mr. Trump is a unique threat to the American system of government. The other half thinks Mr. Trump is presiding over an improved or stable economy and has done an excellent job of keeping his campaign promises.

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