Half Of Republicans, One Third Of Democrats Say They Have Lost Faith In Democracy

Nearly 40% of Americans say they have lost faith in democracy, a new poll shows.

The Axios-Momentive poll, released Wednesday, found that 47% of Republicans and 28% of Democrats say they no longer have faith, while 10% said they never had any faith and 49% said they still do.

A similar survey released Tuesday found that over 80% of Americans were worried about the future of democracy in the United States, including majorities in both major political parties.

Though Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say they have lost faith in democracy, they were also more likely to say that their faith depended on who was in office. The Axios survey comes a day before the anniversary of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, where supporters of former President Donald Trump stormed the building in an attempt to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden’s victory.

Despite the fact that no evidence has emerged to support Trump’s claims that the election was rigged, the survey found that just 55% of Americans believed that Biden won in 2020, down three points from a year ago. Additionally, 57% of respondents said that they believed an event similar to Jan. 6 is likely to happen in the next few years.

And while 58% said they support the Jan. 6 Select Committee investigating the riot, the narrow majority support was driven by near-90% support from Democrats, compared to just 32% of Republicans.

Democrats were also more likely to say that democracy is strong when more people vote, with 79% saying so compared to 46% of Republicans. Republicans, however, were over twice as likely to say as that it was more important that the “right people” voted, with 48% saying so, compared to 18% of Democrats.