The State of Democracy, according to Americans

The news cycle is ablaze with economic uncertainty. Consumer confidence has been unsteady to start 2025. Three in five Americans think the economy will experience a recession in the next year. The issue that Americans generally care most about is in turmoil.  

That all makes it especially surprising that an increasing number of Americans are saying that “political extremism and threats to democracy” is the most important problem facing the country. Over the past two months, it beat out the “economy, unemployment, and jobs” as the main issue in Reuters/Ipsos polling.

Concern with political extremism and threats to democracy is now at the highest it’s been since Ipsos began tracking it in February 2024. Is this a temporary blip or a sign of something new?

Here are five charts on where Americans stand on the state of democracy.

1. Democracy is top of mind for a plurality. Through most of the 2024 election season, the economy was the issue Americans found most pressing. However, even amid economic uncertainty, Americans’ concern with political extremism and threats to democracy have overtaken their concern with the economy. This is not just a reaction among Democrats; Republicans and independents show slight upticks too.
2. Courts controversies. President Donald Trump’s clash with the court system has been one of several points of contention between supporters of the Trump administration and those saying Trump has exceeded his executive authority. In general, most feel the president should obey court orders. But on the issue of deportations specifically, most Republicans feel the Trump administration should continue despite the court order.
3. Two clashing boundaries. Has Trump exceeded his executive authority? The answer depends on who you ask. Most Democrats and independents think he has; most Republicans remain behind President Trump.
4. Democracy divides. Political extremism and threats to democracy might be America’s #1 concern, but there’s little overall consensus on which party has better respect for democracy. Those that feel threats to democracy are the main issue (most, but not all, of whom are Democrats) largely prefer Democrats on the issue; the nation overall is far more divided.
5. Do Americans still believe in democracy? A consistent characteristic of the “New America” is Americans’ distrust of the political and economic system they live under. Indeed, polling consistently finds that most Americans, across partisanship, want a strong leader to fix what they see as a broken system. But fewer question democracy itself. Most Democrats, Republicans, and independents feel American democracy works pretty well for most people. The house may be in disrepair, but the foundations can stay.

Americans are predictably split on the state of U.S. democracy. Democrats feel Trump has exceeded his authority and thus feel more concerned about political extremism and threats to democracy. Republicans don’t. Independents are somewhere in between.

Much of this contention boils down to polarized reactions to the Trump administration’s policies and conflicting boundaries of where presidential authority starts and ends. The unorthodox friction brought on by the aggressiveness of DOGE and the rest of Trump’s administration is also likely a contributor to this growing unease. But belief in the overall concept of democracy remains, even amidst high levels of systematic distrust.

That said, don’t underestimate the significance of a new main issue. The candidate that is seen as better on the main issue wins an election roughly 85% of the time. We saw this in full effect last November. The rising concern around political extremism and threats to democracy could be a major factor in the upcoming Midterm elections.

Of course, the midterms are far away. If the news cycle moves past the Trump administration’s clashes with the courts, concern around political extremism and threats to democracy could fall. Changes in the economy or developments in the AI industry could dramatically shift the issue landscape between now and then. But for now, this is a space worth watching.