Citizenship & Democracy
The United States is a representative democracy. We choose our leaders and hold them accountable through elections. Those leaders are responsible for upholding the Constitution, which includes respecting civil liberties, separation of powers between branches of government, and the rule of law. Our elected officials are also obligated to maintain free and fair elections and the peaceful transition of power, and to lead with civility, truth, and transparency. But the responsibility of democratic government cannot be limited to elected leaders alone. Our citizens also have important responsibilities, including being informed, holding elected officials accountable through voting, tolerating those who are different and have divergent views from our own, and engaging more broadly in civic affairs. The rights of citizens go hand in hand with these responsibilities.
-
Voter ParticipationNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend37%Specific Measure:
Percentage of the voting-age citizen population who voted in presidential and congressional elections.
-
Belief in DemocracyNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend33%Specific Measure:
Support for a democratic political system versus other systems, such as rule by experts, armies, or authoritarian leaders who ignore elected legislative leaders.
-
PolarizationNational
Trend% of countries the US outperformsIntl. Rank
Trend0%Specific Measure:
Percentage of people in each major political party (Democrats and Republicans) with a mostly or very unfavorable view of the other main party.
Measures in green indicate an improving national trend or that we are outperforming at least 80% of countries.
Measures in red indicate a declining national trend or that we are outperforming less than 50% of countries.
Measures in yellow indicate stable trends or that we are outperforming 50-79% of countries.
Summary of Results
Three measures of citizenship and democracy are included. We rank in the bottom-tier internationally on belief in democracy and polarization (i.e., having negative views of other political parties), measures that are also worsening over time. We are also tied for last among all comparison countries on polarization. However, we do rank in the top-half on voter participation in presidential elections and that measure is improving compared with other countries. (Our international standing on voter participation in congressional elections is lower, but this figure may not be as comparable across countries for reasons we explain.)
Related Topics
Political polarization is likely related to the decline in our social relations generally. Low voter participation and the steady decline in belief in democracy might reflect our low level of trust in the federal government (see the Trust section).
Other Measures Considered
The board also considered, but did not include, other measures, including adult knowledge of civics, child knowledge of civics, and the percentage of the population who believe the country is headed in the right direction. The public did not support child knowledge of civics but did support the other two measures.