Overview
- Pew Research Center reports that 77% of Americans say the political system needs major changes or complete reform.
- About 49% fall into “pessimistic reformers,” a group defined as wanting big changes but not trusting that reform will happen.
- The U.S. is one of nine countries where pessimistic reformers are the largest group, alongside Greece, France, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Japan, Turkey and Poland.
- The U.S. has the highest GDP per person in the study yet tracks its peers on democracy ratings, with a Freedom House score of 81.
- Americans report lower social trust and the only net negative view of others’ ethics in the survey, and just 26% expect today’s children to be better off than their parents.