Americans Brace for Civil War and Political Collapse
New polling shows deep fears of collapse, extremism, and civil war in the U.S
New polling from YouGov explores how Americans feel about the state of the nation and whether they believe the country is on the brink of collapse.
The survey began with a series of agree-or-disagree statements. Among them, 56% agreed that the United States is in a constitutional crisis, while only 28% disagreed.
Similarly, 50% believe the United States is currently a democracy, and 48% say the government has a robust system of checks and balances. On both questions, 28% disagreed, highlighting a level of collective cynicism about the current system.
Only 24% of Americans say the United States is currently a dictatorship, with agreement highest among Democrats (35%) and Independents (30%), while just 7% of Republicans agree.
The survey also found that 14% of Americans believe violence is sometimes justified to hold the government or politicians accountable. An overwhelming majority (70%) disagreed with this notion.
Support for political violence as a means to an end is highest among Independents (18%) and lowest among Republicans (10%). Republicans are also the most likely to say violence is never justified, at 81%.
But that wasn’t all the survey had to offer.
