Many Americans perceive corruption as a serious issue within many different professions. Members of Congress and U.S. presidents top the list of concerns. Corruption also is widely seen as a problem in corporate leadership, media, law enforcement, and prison systems. Views on corruption differ sharply between Democrats and Republicans, particularly regarding Supreme Court justices, journalists, and political figures.
A recent survey asked about problems of corruption in 25 occupations and found that Americans are most likely to view corruption as a very or somewhat serious problem among members of Congress, followed by U.S. presidents. Large shares also say there is a serious problem with corruption among CEOs, as well as executives in health care, finance, and the media. Additionally, many Americans see corruption as a serious problem within law enforcement and prison officials.
Among the roles that Americans are least likely to identify as having a corruption problem — among those included in the survey — are doctors, professional athletes, and professors. Even for each of these groups, at least one-third of Americans say corruption is a very serious or somewhat serious problem.
Democrats are twice as likely as Republicans to say that corruption among Supreme Court justices is a very or somewhat serious problem (80% vs. 40%). They also are more likely to be concerned about corruption among religious leaders and police officers, as well as other roles within law enforcement.
Republicans, on the other hand, are far more likely than Democrats to believe there is a serious corruption problem among journalists (66% vs. 37%). Corruption concerns also are more prevalent for Republicans regarding university presidents, professors, government employees, and union leaders.
While Democrats and Republicans have similarly high concerns about corruption among presidents and members of Congress in general, their views diverge concerning people in these roles from each party. A follow-up survey asked respondents to separately evaluate Democratic and Republican presidents and members of Congress, as well as Supreme Court justices appointed by presidents of each party.
Nearly eight in 10 Democrats and Republicans believe that corruption is a very or somewhat serious problem among presidents from the opposing party, and similar shares say the same about members of Congress from the other party. Only around one-quarter say corruption is a serious problem among presidents from their own party, and around one-third say so about members of Congress from their party. Regarding Supreme Court corruption, Democrats are more concerned about corruption among justices appointed by Republican presidents than Republicans are about corruption among Democrat-appointed justices.
The follow-up survey also found that most Americans believe a member of Congress would be likely to engage in one form of corruption, if given the opportunity: bribery. Two-thirds (68%) think that a member of Congress would be very or somewhat likely to accept a bribe if offered one. Mayors (69%) and governors (62%) also are viewed by majorities as susceptible to bribery. Fewer — but still nearly half of Americans — think it's likely that a U.S. president (45%) or Supreme Court justice (44%) would be successfully bribed.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to think presidents and Supreme Court justices are likely to take bribes. They diverge even more on the likelihood that the current and incoming presidents — Joe Biden and Donald Trump — would accept a bribe: 73% of Republicans think it is likely that Biden could be bribed and 77% of Democrats think it is likely that Trump could be bribed. Democrats are more likely to think Biden could be bribed than Republicans are to think Trump could (20% vs. 12%).
Democrats and Republicans have similar views to one another when it comes to the likelihood of a member of Congress, governor, or mayor accepting a bribe, with majorities viewing them as very or somewhat likely to do so.
See the results for these YouGov surveys
— Carl Bialik contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from two online surveys conducted January 10 - 16, 2025 among 1,120 U.S. adult citizens and January 13 - 16, 2025 among 1,145 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for each overall sample is approximately 4%.
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