Most American voters believe the United States is too politically divided to solve problems, according to a poll by The New York Times and Siena University released on Thursday.
The poll found that 64 percent of registered voters think the country’s sharp divisions cannot solve political problems, while 33 percent say the political system can still address its problems.
This is a huge jump from September 2020, when 42 percent thought the nation was too divided to solve its problems and 51 percent said the country could still solve its problems.
The country was divided in September 2020, and much of the nation was in COVID-19 lockdowns.
Yet the polling suggests Americans are even more divided now, more than six months into a new Trump presidency compared to almost four years into his first presidency.
The poll also found significant shifts in terms of what Americans see as the country’s biggest problems. In December 2023, when the Times/Siena poll asked Americans about the biggest problems, they listed the economy, inflation, immigration and polarization as the country’s most important problems to handle.
In the new poll, 16 percent said the economy was a top problem, compared to 20 percent five years ago. Thirteen percent how say political polarization is a serious problem, up from 7 percent.
Nine percent now say the state of democracy is a serious problem, up from 7 percent. That means more people now see the state of democracy as a bigger problem than inflation, immigration and crime, according to the poll.
Nearly half of the voters polled, 46 percent, said they believe President Trump is a unique threat to the American government, while 42 percent said they think he is using the powers at his disposal as president.
Over half of voters, at 53 percent, believe Trump has created disorder and chaos in the United States. In contrast, 42 percent said he was cleaning up disorder and chaos in the country.
The Times/Siena poll also showed that despite political divisions, over 80 percent of Democrats and Republicans view the opposition as fellow Americans who they disagree with.
Ten percent of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents agreed with the sentement that the opposition was “the enemy,” while 14 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said they viewed Democrats as “the enemy.”
The Times/Siena poll was conducted Sept. 22-27 and included 1,313 registered voters. The margin of error is 3.2 percentage points.
