With the US marking its 250th birthday, fresh polling suggests many Americans are feeling less positive about key parts of the nation’s identity than they were a decade ago, even as the country’s founding ideals still hold broad appeal.
New findings from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research show a noticeable decline in national pride, particularly when people are asked about American history and the state of democracy.
The survey took place in April, during a tense stretch that overlapped with confrontation involving the United States and Iran in the Strait of Hormuz after strikes by the US and Israel on Iran.
The AP-NORC poll was part of the outlet’s America 250 project and was conducted April 16 to 20 among 2,596 adults. The margin of error for the full sample was plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
Separate research from Gallup points in the same direction. Its latest numbers show that just 53 percent of adults in the US say they are ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ proud to be American, the lowest result since Gallup began tracking that measure in 2001.
In the AP-NORC data, pride in the way democracy operates in the US fell from 42 percent in February 2017 to 28 percent now, a drop of 14 percentage points.
Views of other national institutions also weakened. Pride in the military was down 19 points over that same span, while pride in US history declined by 14 points. The report noted that Democrats accounted for much of that drop.
The survey also found that many Americans still see core democratic freedoms as central to national identity, even if they believe those rights are under threat. That tension appears to reflect a broader split in the country: Americans can remain attached to the idea of the United States while losing confidence in how the system is working.
Karla Galdamez, a 48-year-old former history teacher in California, said she sees the country as having moved backward under President Donald Trump, even though she still believes the longer arc of American history shows improvement.
She told AP: “Despite some of the very ugly history that we have of segregation and slavery, if you look at the trajectory of the last 250 years, we’ve done nothing but get better and move toward a more egalitarian nation,” she said.
The political split in the responses was especially sharp. Only 14 percent of Democrats and 28 percent of independents said they are ‘extremely’ proud to be American, compared with 70 percent of Republicans.
Republicans were also much more likely to say the armed forces make them ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ proud. Roughly nine in 10 Republicans felt that way, versus about six in 10 adults overall.
Samantha Fulks, a 40-year-old Republican from Texas, said her support for the military remains firm, even though she has concerns about American action involving Iran.
“I still support our troops no matter what they do,” she said.
Matt Stafford, a 39-year-old centrist from Massachusetts, said his concern is aimed more at the country’s political climate than at the country itself.
“I love America, but our biggest problem is how we’re pushing both sides, like the left and the right, to the extremes,” he said.
The poll also highlighted generational and partisan differences in identity. Older adults and Republicans were more likely than younger people and Democrats to say being American is a core part of how they define themselves.
For others, nationality ranks behind race or ethnicity when it comes to identity. Among Black Americans, 73 percent said their race is ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ important to who they are, a larger share than those who said the same about being American.
AP-NORC’s broader America 250 polling has also found that many Americans feel the nation’s freedoms are under threat, even while they continue to see ideals from the founding documents as central to American identity.
The AP-NORC poll was based on responses from 2,596 adults surveyed between April 16 and 20. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.