In our recent Bowling Green State University/YouGov poll my colleagues and I surveyed Americans on a number of issues. Like most polls, we asked whether respondents approve of the president, favor one party over another, or think the country is headed in the right direction. Like other polls, we found Americans are not particularly thrilled with President Donald Trump or many of his policies, Democrats currently hold an advantage on the generic congressional ballot heading into the midterms, and most believe the country is on the wrong track.
But we also asked something different. We asked how “politics today” compares with the experiences Americans encounter in their everyday lives. In most cases, these experiences are viewed as mildly annoying at the least and quite literally a headache at most. Few polls attempt to measure public attitudes this way, and the results reveal just how deeply dissatisfied Americans have become with the current state of affairs.
Nearly nine in 10 Americans say they are exhausted when they think about politics and believe politicians are out of touch with ordinary people. Fewer than one-third (31%) are satisfied with how democracy is working, only 12% have a favorable view of politics today, and more than three-quarters believe the Founders would be dissatisfied with how the American government is functioning today.
The broader political environment helps explain these attitudes. Nearly eight in 10 Americans believe the country is in a political crisis because of deep polarization. Americans have witnessed the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, assassination attempts against national political leaders, and kidnapping plots targeting governors. It is hardly surprising that many have become weary of politics itself.
Scholars have increasingly documented the mental and emotional toll of today’s political climate. The toxic political environment has been a total vibe killer on America’s 250th anniversary. Our findings suggest Americans are experiencing exactly that fatigue.
To better understand the depth of this frustration, we asked respondents to choose between “politics today” and a variety of common experiences, inconveniences, and public figures. The results were striking.
Americans preferred getting up for an early morning alarm (71%-29%), going to the Department of Motor Vehicles (68%-32%), serving on jury duty (67%-33%), having a headache (60%-40%), being bitten by a mosquito (59%-41%), enduring slow wi-fi (59%-41%), stubbing a toe (58%-42%), and even dealing with landlords (52%-48%) over today’s politics.
So what is less popular than politics? Billionaires (64%-36%), data centers (63%-37%), telemarketers (59%-41%), Elon Musk (58%-42%), root canals (56%-44%), insurance companies (54%-46%), and artificial intelligence (52%-48%).
These comparisons may seem somewhat trivial, but they reveal something consequential: Citizens are deeply dissatisfied with the political environment, demonstrate a clear lack of trust in democratic institutions, and have little faith in politics today.
Perhaps the most revealing comparison came when respondents chose between “politics today” and the “politics of the past.” By a 76%-24% margin, Americans preferred the politics of earlier eras. That sentiment is understandable, even if it is somewhat romanticized. American history has never been free of conflict, polarization, or political dysfunction.
Yet there is reason for optimism. In the same survey, nearly eight in 10 Americans said our founding principles continue to provide a strong foundation for solving today’s challenges, and a majority believe the United States will remain a strong nation 250 years from now. Americans may be profoundly disappointed in today’s politics, but they have not abandoned faith in the constitutional principles that have guided the nation for two and a half centuries.
The Founders understood that self-government would be imperfect because human nature is imperfect. “The Federalist Papers” are replete with examples of these concerns. Their optimism rested not in the belief that politics would always be pleasant, but that our constitutional system could channel disagreement into peaceful self-government. Our poll suggests Americans have not lost faith in that promise. They have simply grown frustrated with how well today’s politics is living up to it.
