Poll: Majority of Americans believe country not adhering to founding ideals

By Thérèse Boudreaux
The Center Square

American voters overwhelmingly support their country’s founding ideals – yet the majority also believe that the U.S. is failing to live up to them, according to new polling.

The Center Square’s Voters’ Voice Poll revealed that 86% of registered U.S. voters support America’s founding principles, among which the poll listed “individual rights such as life, liberty, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to bear arms, equal treatment under the law, and government by the consent of the people.”

Only 31% of all voters, however, believed those principles are being practiced well, painting a gloomy picture of voters’ moods as the U.S. approaches its 250th anniversary.

The poll was conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from June 1-4, 2026, surveying 2,585 registered U.S. voters. The sample was comprised of 915 Republicans, 1013 Democrats, and 297 True Independents, the latter of whom chose neither major party when asked about their political leanings. The poll’s margin of error is +/- 1.93%.

“Voters are not rejecting the founding ideals, but many doubt the country’s political system is healthy enough to live up to them,” Mike Noble, founder and CEO of Noble Predictive Insights, told The Center Square. “All of them are pretty pessimistic on how well these founding principles are being practiced today.”

The poll found significant support for American principles among all political groups, with 89% of Republicans, 85% of Democrats, and 79% of Independents on board.

Gender and geographic divides over the issue were virtually nonexistent, with 87% of males and 85% of females supportive of American ideals, while support across rural, suburban, and urban areas hovered equally around 86%.

Racially, white voters expressed 90% support, Hispanic or Latino voters 83%, Black voters 73%, and voters of other races 79%.

Support across generations never dipped below 70% and progressively increased with age, with nearly 95% of voters ages 65 and older supporting American ideals.

Favorable views of American values also progressively increased alongside education and annual income growth, with support for American values surpassing 90% among the most highly educated and wealthiest respondents.

The “big disconnect,” Noble noted, is not over American principles in theory, but “whether they’re being practiced well.”

Nearly two-thirds of voters surveyed don’t believe those ideals are being practiced well in the country today.

Not even the majority of Republican voters, whose party currently holds a government trifecta, believe the country is upholding its founding principles – 44% think so.

“I was actually a little surprised by it,” Noble added. “Remember, Republicans are kind of in the driver’s seat right now.”

Democratic and Independent voters have less than half of Republicans’ confidence – only about 20% of each group – while over 70% in each group believe the country is failing to live up to its principles.

Younger voters were also slightly more hopeful than older voters, with roughly 34% of Gen Z and Millennials believing the country practices its ideals, versus less than 30% of all voters over the age of 45.

While the gender gap reappeared – 36% of males remain positive, compared to 26% of females – the racial divide was almost nonexistent, with 31% of white, Hispanic, and Black voters respectively believing principles are being practiced well.

Higher household income and higher education levels translated to slightly higher beliefs that American principles are well-practiced. Urban voters were also more likely (37%) to hold that view than voters in rural (31%) or suburban (28%) areas.

Only 17% of voters who voted for 2024 Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris held a hopeful view, compared to 47% of those who voted for President Donald Trump.

Noble believes the principles versus practice disconnect is “a symptom of the hyper polarization that’s happened” with nearly all political issues – many of which are directly tied to America’s founding principles.

“If you were to take freedom of speech, for example, there’s some questions on that, or equal treatment under the law, or government by consent to the people, or right to bear arms,” Noble noted. “The parties both agree on those in principle, but then when you talk about details, like automatic weapons … are they really staying true to that, or are they getting down into these partisan trenches?”

Republicans and Democrats at the congressional level have frequently clashed over how to protect American ideals and accused the other party of violating them.

Republican lawmakers have accused the former Democrat-led administration of violating Americans’ free speech rights by pressuring social media companies to censor politically incorrect speech during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Democratic lawmakers, meanwhile, have condemned what they describe as federal law enforcement’s sometimes deadly responses to public protests against the current administration, arguing that the attempted federal crackdowns on allegedly violent protests suppressed protestors’ free speech rights.

Similarly, both parties oppose unequal treatment, but disagree on what that looks like. Republican lawmakers, for example, believe DEI policies in federal workplaces violate the principle of equal treatment, while many Democrats believe such policies are equitable.

By contrast, many Republicans see no problem with federal law enforcement arresting illegal immigrants without judicial warrants, while Democratic lawmakers view the practice as contrary to the equal treatment principle.

“These two parties are going after each other, and they’ve kind of forgotten it’s not about the two parties – what about the country and America’s founding principles as a whole?” Noble said.

“I think it’s just more of a symptom of getting too far into this partisan trench. What about these higher-level ideas? It’s not just the red versus blue team – which is kind of what we’re sitting at right now.”