PRRI Poll: Majority (77 Percent) of Americans Believe US is Heading in the Wrong Direction

More than three-fourths of Americans (77%) said they believe the country is heading in the wrong direction while only 22% said it’s heading in the right direction, according to a poll released Oct. 25 by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) and the Brookings Institution.

The 2023 American Values Survey was conducted Aug. 25-30, using a sample of 2,525 adults who are part of the Ipsos Knowledge Panel. The margin of error is +/- 2.19 percentage points.

It found that 90% of Republicans and 81% of independents said the country is heading in the wrong direction, compared with 59% of Democrats. It also found 75% said the fate of the country is at stake in the 2024 presidential election, including 84% of Democrats, 77% of Republicans and 73% of independents.

The poll found that since the 1950s, 55% said America’s culture and way of life has changed for the worse. It also found 52% said America’s best days are behind it.

Strikingly, 23% said because things have gotten so far off track, “true American patriots” might have to resort to violence to save the country, up from 15% in 2021. The poll did not define “true American patriot” or “political violence.”

“PRRI has asked this question in eight separate surveys since March, 2021,” a news release from PRRI said. “This is the first time support for political violence has peaked above 20%.”

Among Republicans, 33% said “true American patriots” might have to resort to political violence to save the country, compared with 22% of independents and 13% of Democrats. Republicans who have favorable views of former President Donald Trump (41%) are nearly three times as likely as Republicans who have unfavorable views of him (16%) to agree about resorting to political violence to save the country.

Among 20 political issues, the poll found 62% said housing and everyday expenses were the most pressing, followed by crime (50%), health care (49%), human trafficking (48%) and the health of democracy (47%).

When asked if society has become too soft and feminine, 48% said yes, up 10 percentage points from last year’s poll. Among Republicans, 72% agreed, up 7 percentage points from 2022 and 24% of Democrats agreed, up 9 percentage points from last year.