Country pessimistic about both parties, see democracy being tested, new poll finds
Over 80% of Americans said that democracy is at least being tested while neither party is seen as being able to get things done in a CNN poll released June 1.
The poll found that 49% of respondents believe that American democracy is under attack and 36% believe that American democracy is being tested.
Respondents held a dim view of both parties, even as 58% said that the government should do more to solve problems – a record high in over 30 years of the network's polling.
The network reported that respondents were split on if either party represented the middle class, with a third saying neither did.
Republicans saw a seven-point advantage over Democrats on handling the economy, the narrowest lead on the issue in the polling since 2022 and lost over half of their advantage on immigration, falling from a 14-point lead in November 2023 to a six-point lead in the new poll.
The poll was conducted by SSRS online or by phone from May 5-26 among 2,539 adults across the country using a combination of online and telephone interviews.
Here's what else the poll found.
Neither party seen as having strong leadership, able to get things done
When asked if a party had strong leaders, 40% of respondents agreed with that description for Republicans and only 36% said that they could get things done. The survey was even more pessimistic for Democrats, as only 16% of respondents said they had strong leaders and 19% said they could get things done.
The response of neither won both questions with 43% and 44% respectively, despite 81% of respondents saying they saw "important differences" between the two parties.
The network reported that the gap in favorability was fueled by partisan views with Republican-aligned respondents 50 points likelier than Democratic-aligned respondents to say that their party has strong leaders while the question of which party could get things done elicited a 36-point difference between partisans.
Independents were particularly pessimistic about the parties, with 76% saying that neither party had strong leadership nor could get things done.
Diversity seen as positive by wide majority
Just under three-quarters of respondents said that growing racial diversity does "more to enrich than threaten American culture."
Objection to that view, held by 27% of respondents, was concentrated among Republican-aligned men with 45% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents calling diversity a threat – a 25% jump from 2019, according to the network.
Democrats held an eight-point advantage on LGTBQ issues in the poll and a seven-point margin on race issues.
Respondents saying that abortion should be legal in all circumstances hit a record high at 36% in the poll. Thirty-five percent of respondents said that abortion should be legal in "a few" circumstances while 15% said that the procedure should be legal in most circumstances.