Patriotism in the United States has reached a record low, as fewer Americans than ever before consider themselves extremely or very proud of their country, with Democrats primarily responsible for this shift, according to a recent survey.
In a survey released four days before Independence Day, Gallup asked Americans if they consider themselves proud of their country.
The data is based on responses from 1,000 U.S. adults between June 2–19 and had a margin of error of +/-4 percentage points.
The 58% of Americans describing themselves as "extremely" or "very" proud to be American constituted a new low for the 25 years that Gallup has asked the question.
By contrast, last year, 67% of Americans shared the same sentiment.
The share of Americans who characterized themselves as "extremely" proud to be an American remains unchanged from the 41% recorded in 2024, slightly higher than the record low of 38% measured in 2022.
The share of Americans who described themselves as "very" proud to be American plummeted from 26% last year to a record low of 17% this year.
Nineteen percent said they are "moderately" proud, and 11% reported being "only a little" proud. About 9% of respondents said they are "not at all" proud.
"The combined 20% on the lower end of the pride scale essentially ties the record 21% measured in 2020," the Gallup analysis reads. "Until 2018, less than 10% of U.S. adults had consistently said they had little or no national pride."
When Gallup first asked this question to respondents in January 2001, 87% reported being "extremely or very proud" of their country. That figure increased to 90% after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attack, and did not fall below that measure until 2004.
Gallup attributed the decrease in American pride among Americans to a "combination of political and generational changes," including "economic prospects for young people, widespread dissatisfaction with the state of the nation, greater ideological divides between the parties, unfavorable images of both parties, and intense partisan rancor during the Trump and Biden administrations."
Broken down by partisan affiliation, the overwhelming majority of Republicans (92%) considered themselves extremely or very proud to be American, a significant increase from the 85% of Republicans who said the same in both 2023 and 2024.
By contrast, only 36% of Democrats described themselves as extremely or very proud to be American this year, compared to the 62% who had a high sense of pride in their country last year.
The percentage of independents who described themselves as extremely or very proud to be American reached a record low of 53% this year, a decrease from the 60% recorded last year.
The decrease in those who are extremely or very proud to be American extended across all generations. The youngest group of American adults, known as Generation Z, consistently shows a lower share of respondents who identify as extremely or very proud to be American (41% in 2021-2025, compared to 47% in 2016-2020).
By comparison, 84% of Americans born before 1946 considered themselves extremely or very proud to be American from 2016-2020, dropping to 83% from 2021-2025.
Generational differences in patriotism levels appear to be influenced by partisan affiliation.
From 2001-2015, 88% of Democrats born before 1946 considered themselves extremely or very proud to be American. That figure dropped to 77% from 2016-2025. The share of Republicans born before 1946 who are extremely or very proud to be American only dropped from 93% to 92%.
The highest levels of national pride decreased from 84% to 67% among baby boomer Democrats, 83% to 75% among Baby Boomer independents and from 95% to 93% among baby boomer Republicans.
Within Generation X, the percentage of respondents who viewed themselves as extremely or very proud to be American decreased from 77% to 56% among Democrats, from 82% to 72% among independents, and from 94% to 92% among Republicans.
Looking at millennials, the share of Democrats who are extremely or very proud to be American plummeted from 76% to 44% while dropping from 65% to 61% among independents and 88% to 87% among Republicans.
While data for Generation Z broken down by party is only available for the past 10 years, the shares of respondents who are extremely or very proud to be American among Democrats (24%), independents (48%) and Republicans (65%) are noticeably lower than the figures recorded among their older counterparts.
No comments:
Post a Comment
THANK YOU