More than 100 days into President Donald Trump’s second administration, a sweeping majority of Americans say the issues that divide the nation are a serious threat to the future of U.S. democracy. The 77% of Americans who expressed that fear in the newest Marist College poll is up from the 73% who said the same thing in January when the Republican president took office. Barely 2 in 10 (22%) believe there is no threat to the nation’s democracy.
The question of whether the American experiment is in jeopardy first began gaining ground during the run-up to the 2024 election, when Trump said he’d be a dictator but only on his first day in office. In the weeks and months since, fears over the health of the nation’s founding principles have accelerated among some experts, who have pointed to Trump’s disdain for due process, circumvention of Congress, and the weaponization of the U.S. Justice Department to launch reprisals against his political opponents. The new Marist poll of 1,439 U.S. adults appears to lend added urgency to those concerns.
The survey, conducted between April 21 and April 23, has a margin of error of 3.5%. The poll, however, found a predictably partisan split, with more Democrats (91%) and independents (83%) harboring concerns over the health of the nation. Even so, a clear majority of self-identified Republicans (56%) also had that view.
And with Americans taking to the streets, including Boston, to protest the White House’s actions, 84% of respondents believe the right to nonviolent and peaceful protest is alive and well. But that’s still less than the 91% of Americans who said the same thing in January. Sixteen percent of respondents either disagreed or strongly disagreed that the Constitutionally guaranteed right to the redress of grievances was still in rude health.
More than eight in 10 Republicans (88%) and Democrats (81%) and independents (84%) believe the right to protest is working well. Irrespective party, that’s still fewer than the same who said the same thing in January, pollsters said. And no one is having any fun talking politics: 57% of respondents find it stressful and frustrating to talk about the issues of the day with people with whom they disagree.
That’s compared to the 41% who say it’s interesting and informative. Republicans are slightly more likely (51%) than Democrats (31%), and independents (41%) to have interesting discussions with people on the other side of the political divide, according to the poll. Finally, nearly 7 in 19 respondents (69%), down from the previous 75%, said they agree or strongly agree that the ability of news organizations to criticize those in power is working well.
Three in 10 (30%) said they disagreed, according to the poll.
