Politics News
Poll: America at 250 is riven with doubt and pessimism — but with glimmers of hope
National pride, faith in major institutions and belief in the “American Dream” declined in new NBC News polling.
By Jonathan Allen, June 14, 2026, 6:00 AM PDT
Americans have a bleak outlook on the nation’s future ahead of its 250th birthday next month, with most saying the U.S. has already seen its best days and a record-low number saying they are extremely proud to be Americans, according to a new NBC News poll.
Overall, the survey — sponsored by More Perfect, a nonpartisan nonprofit dedicated to advancing democracy — shows that Americans believe their country has achieved many of the goals of its founders, but it is now falling short in living up to certain central tenets of the democratic experiment. They are split almost evenly over whether the Constitution has stood the test of time.
And they have little faith in their institutions — including the federal government, the media and the high-tech industry. Even the military, which ranks highest among the institutions tested and retains the confidence of most Americans, has seen a pronounced drop in support.
But Americans also share core values and are willing to engage each other on their differences, according to the survey, which includes 3,000 U.S. adults contacted by phone and text message from May 29 through June 7.
Contemplating the results, Democratic pollster Jeff Horwitt of Hart Research Associates, who conducted the survey alongside Republican pollster Bill McInturff of Public Opinion Strategies, reflected on Benjamin Franklin’s observation that the image of the half-sun on the back of George Washington’s chair was rising, not setting, at the conclusion of the Constitutional Convention.
“Today, as the astute political observer that he was, Franklin might take a more nuanced look at that chair and agree with its citizens who assess the sun as setting on its institutions, but rising among its citizens,” Horwitt said.
The results help explain the political tumult of the past generation, an era in which antiestablishment backlash has given rise to populist figures in both parties. President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance on the right and Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani on the left have shaped American politics in the wake of forever wars, the 2008 financial crisis and a brutal pandemic that affected the health and economic fortunes of millions of Americans.
The poll reveals a polity deeply divided along partisan, generational, educational and class lines, but mostly united in its certainty that the “American Dream” is harder to attain now than it was a generation ago.
Among adults, 78% say the American Dream is further out of reach, with that sentiment varying little across demographic groups. Another 5% say it is easier to grasp and 16% say the degree of difficulty is about the same.
It is not the first time Americans have questioned whether that dream is a mirage. But there has been a 9-point increase since 2016, when 69% of adults said it was harder to achieve than it had been for the prior generation.
Institutional problems
Institutions have taken a pounding in the public square in recent years, with politicians often seeing advantage in piling on. The combination of Americans’ perceptions of establishment failure and a steady drumbeat of negativity from political leaders has had a devastating effect on their standing, and the new survey reinforces other polls showing that Americans are fed up with major institutions and have lost faith in them.
The numbers, McInturff said, are among the worst in the era of modern polling techniques.
“This is about as low as it’s gotten in that period,” he said, noting that seven out of nine institutions undergoing repeat tests in the poll saw record numbers of people saying they have “no confidence” in them. “Only your local government and the U.S. Supreme Court didn’t set or match a record high.”
For the first time in the poll’s history, a majority — 52% — say they have “very little” confidence or “none at all” in the federal government. In 2016, that figure was 34%. An even greater share of adults, 56%, now say they feel the same way about Congress, compared to 48% in 2019 and 39% in 2016.
Read more: Poll: America at 250 is riven with doubt and pessimism — but with glimmers of hope – NBC NewsContinue/Read Original Article: Poll: America at 250 is riven with doubt and pessimism — but with glimmers of hope
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