RKMBs Forums .::Important::. Politics and Current Events Gallup: Those "very proud" to be American drops to 47%, Democrats drop especially low

July 2, 2018



WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This Fourth of July marks a low point in U.S. patriotism. For the first time in Gallup's 18-year history asking U.S. adults how proud they are to be Americans, fewer than a majority say they are "extremely proud." Currently, 47% describe themselves this way, down from 51% in 2017 and well below the peak of 70% in 2003.

The latest results are based on a June 1-13 poll. When Gallup first asked the question in 2001, 55% of Americans said they were extremely proud. After the 9/11 terror attacks caused the public to rally around the nation and its leaders, the percentage expressing extreme pride in the country increased to 65%, and went up further to 70% less than two years later.

By 2005, about the time George W. Bush was set to begin his second term in office and the U.S. was going on its second year of military involvement in Iraq, the percentage extremely proud to be Americans fell to 61%. It held in the high 50% range between 2006 and 2013, but has fallen at least marginally each year since 2015, about the time the 2016 presidential campaign was getting underway.

While the 47% who are extremely proud to be Americans is a new low, the vast majority of Americans do express some level of pride, including 25% who say they are "very proud" and 16% who are "moderately proud." That leaves one in 10 who are "only a little" (7%) or "not at all" proud (3%).

The combined 72% who are extremely or very proud to be Americans is also the lowest in Gallup's trend.


National Pride Dropping Most Among Democrats, Liberals

Currently, 32% of Democrats -- down from 43% in 2017 and 56% in 2013 -- are extremely proud. The decline preceded the election of Donald Trump but has accelerated in the past year.

Less than half of independents, 42%, are also extremely proud. That is down slightly from 48% a year ago, and 50% in 2013.

As has typically been the case, Republicans are more inclined to say they are extremely proud to be Americans than are Democrats and independents. Seventy-four percent of Republicans are extremely proud, which is numerically the highest over the last five years.

Fewer than 1 in 3 Democrats are extremely proud to be Americans.


With the large decline among Democrats, the Republican-Democratic gap in extreme pride has grown from 15 percentage points in 2013 to 42 points today.

Political liberals are even less likely than Democrats to say they are extremely proud -- just 23% do so, compared with 46% of moderates and 65% of conservatives. Extreme pride among liberals has dropped nine points in the past year and 28 points since 2013.

Other demographic differences in national pride largely reflect the political leanings of U.S. adults. Young adults, college graduates, nonwhites and women -- all Democratic-leaning groups -- are below the national average in terms of being extremely proud to be Americans. Meanwhile, older adults, those without a college degree, whites and men -- who are more Republican-leaning -- are above the average.

Most of these subgroups have seen declines in patriotism at some point over the last five years, with those declines greatest among nonwhites, young adults and college graduates.


Implications

Fewer than half of U.S. adults are extremely proud to be Americans, something that had not been seen in the prior 17 years Gallup has asked the public about its national pride. Politics appears to be a factor, with sharp declines evident among Democrats and political liberals and no decrease among Republicans and conservatives. Left-leaning groups' antipathy toward Donald Trump and their belief that other countries look unfavorably on the president are likely factors in their decline in patriotism, particularly the sharp drops in the past year. But the declines began before Trump was elected.

National pride may be just one of a growing number of issues -- including opinions about guns, labor unions and the environment -- for which party loyalties are pushing Democrats and Republicans to adopt divergent views. These changes are making each party's base more homogenous but increasingly different from one another.

Black unemployment fell to 6.6 percent in April, the lowest in data dating back to 1972, while the jobless rate among Hispanics dipped to 4.8 percent, matching the lowest on record, Labor Department figures showed Friday. Black and Hispanic jobless rates are generally more volatile than the overall unemployment figure, which fell below 4 percent last month for the first time since 2000.

The Foundation for Liberty and American Greatness (FLAG) released its first annual State of American Patriotism report Tuesday, revealing a dearth of patriotism among “younger Americans.” The survey pegged that age group as under 38, including Gen Z and millennials.
The poll was conducted by YouGov and in a news release FLAG says it “starkly reveals that younger Americans … are becoming unmoored from the institutions, knowledge and spirit traditionally associated with American patriotism.”

The poll reveals a generation that is embarrassed by its flag as “a sign of intolerance and hatred,” view their country as “racist” and think former President Barack Obama was more important to American history than the nation’s founder, George Washington.
The survey confirms findings from other studies that reveal leftist preferences among millennials, with almost one-third of them identifying as socialists and many showing a pronounced affinity for hard-line liberal politicians like California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters.
(RELATED: Nearly One In Five Millennials Consider Joseph Stalin and Kim Jong Un ‘Heroes’)

The poll revealed what FLAG founder Nick Adams called an “epidemic of anti-Americanism.” Fully 50 percent define America as “sexist,” with 49 percent calling it “racist” and 46 percent saying it is “more racist than other countries.”
Of the total respondents, 46 percent could not agree with the statement, “America is the greatest country in the world,” and 38 percent cannot concur that “America has a history that we should be proud of.”

Fourteen percent say that “America was never a great country, and it never will be.” (RELATED: Poll: Nearly 60 Percent Of Millennials Aren’t Familiar With Their Congressional District Candidates For Midterms)
Some younger Americans aren’t proud of their flag, with 19 percent believing it is “a sign of intolerance and hatred,” while 44 percent believe former President Barack Obama produced a “bigger impact” on American history than the man traditionally called “the father of his country,” George Washington.

Adams says he was “totally unprepared” for results like these, revealing in a website statement:
We suspected that we would find decreasing numbers of Americans well-versed in our nation’s most important principles and young people less patriotic than the generations that came before, but we were totally unprepared for what our national survey reveals: an epidemic of anti-Americanism.

Adams blames a school system that has “indoctrinated” students. “That half of millennials and Gen Z believe that the country in which they live is both ‘racist’ and ‘sexist’ shows that we have a major fraction of an entire generation that has been indoctrinated by teachers starting in grade school that America is what’s wrong with the world.”