A new YouGov survey finds that majorities of Democrats and Republicans agree on the importance of certain factors for the maintenance of a strong democracy in the U.S., such as fair national elections and a system of checks and balances. Democrats are more likely than Republicans to find each of the factors asked about to be very important. The survey also asked Americans about gender, racial, and religious equality and whether people from different groups are currently treated equally in the U.S.
Thinking about what it takes for the U.S. to maintain a strong democracy, majorities of Americans say it’s very important that national elections are open and fair (80%), that there is a system of checks and balances dividing power between the president, Congress, and the courts (71%), and that people have the right to non-violent protests (69%). Majorities also say it’s very important that the rights of people with unpopular views are protected (61%) and that news organizations are free to criticize political leaders (59%).
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say that each of the five factors is very important to the U.S. maintaining a strong democracy. The largest gap between Republicans and Democrats is around news organizations being free to criticize political leaders: 75% of Democrats and 43% of Republicans say this is very important. There is a similarly large gap on the right of people to have non-violent protests — 86% of Democrats and 57% of Republicans say it is very important.
Majorities of Americans agree that each of the elements asked about regarding importance to democracy is present in the U.S. today, though there are large partisan gaps about one of them.
Majorities of Americans agree that in the U.S., people have the right to non-violent protest (77% strongly or somewhat agree), that news organizations are free to criticize political leaders (71%), and that national elections are open and fair (70%). Two-thirds agree that there is a system of checks and balances dividing power between the president, Congress, and the courts (66%) and the same proportion (66%) agree that the rights of people with unpopular views are protected.
Republicans are more likely than Democrats to agree that there is a system of checks and balances dividing power between the president, Congress, and the courts (78% vs. 59%).
84% of Americans — including 85% of men and 84% of women — believe men and women should be social, political, and economic equals. The share of men who think men and women should be equals has increased from 77% in November 2024, according to a YouGov survey conducted at the time.
Far fewer Americans (29%) believe men and women are currently treated as social, political, and economic equals than think they should be. Men (36%) are more likely than women (22%) to say men and women are treated as equals.
Democrats (93%) are more likely than Republicans (81%) to say men and women should be treated as equals, and much less likely to say they are currently treated as social, political and economic equals (16% vs. 44%).
88% of Americans believe white and Black Americans should be treated as social, political, and economic equals; only 29% say they currently are treated as equals.
White Americans (91%) are more likely than Black (82%) and Hispanic (80%) Americans to say white and Black Americans should be treated as equals (dissenting doesn't indicate which group the respondent thinks should be treated better). White Americans also are more likely than Black Americans to say the two groups are treated as equals (31% vs. 18%). 55% of white Americans and 71% of Black Americans say white and Black Americans are not currently treated as equals.
Majorities of Democrats (93%), Independents (86%), and Republicans (85%) say white and Black Americans should be treated equally. Republicans (45%) are more likely than Democrats (14%) to say white and Black Americans are currently treated as equals.
The majority (83%) of Americans say Christian and non-Christian Americans should be social, political, and economic equals. Only 31% say they currently are treated as equals.
84% of Christians and 82% of non-Christians say the two groups should be treated equally. Among Christians, 37% say Christians and non-Christians are treated equally while 45% say they are not. Among non-Christians, 25% say the two groups are treated equally and 52% say they are not. (For purposes of this tabulation, Christians include people who list their affiliation as Roman Catholic, Protestant, Mormon, or Eastern or Greek Orthodox, while non-Christians list their affiliation as Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Atheist, Agnostic, nothing in particular, or something else.)
Related:
- Which of 15 election policies would Democrats and Republicans support?
- What Americans think about free speech and its consequences
- Three in five Americans are dissatisfied with American democracy
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted February 5 - 8, 2025 among 1,131 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 the overall sample is approximately 4%.
Image: Getty (Chip Somodevilla / Staff)
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