Proud to be an American? Gallup poll hits historic low of 45% ahead of Fourth of July holiday

Vandana Ravikumar
Updated

American patriotism is ebbing ahead of the Fourth of July, according to a Gallup poll that showed fewer than half of U.S. adults are "extremely" proud to be Americans.

The poll's findings, from a survey of 1,015 U.S. adults, show that pride in being American has dwindled in recent years, with the most recent number (45%) reflecting an all-time low since the firm began collecting data on the subject in 2001.

The highest readings on record, of 69% and 79%, occurred between 2002 and 2004, when the American public expressed high levels of patriotism and support for the U.S. government following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Those numbers began to fall after President George W. Bush began his second term on 2005, sinking below 60%, according to Gallup's report.

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Other findings:

  • Democrats are historically less likely to report pride in being American, and their numbers tend to fluctuate more than Republicans'. This time, only 22% of Democrats polled were extremely proud to be American, compared to 76% of Republicans.

  • Despite the record low, respondents still expressed strong pride in six of eight aspects of U.S. government and society – American scientific achievements (91%), the U.S. military (89%), American culture and arts (85%), economic (85%) and sporting (73%) achievements, and diversity in race, ethnic background, and religion (72%).

  • On the other hand, the American political system (32%) and health and welfare system (37%) were not major sources of pride.

  • There were several differences in how favorably Republicans and Democrats viewed American economic achievements, the U.S. political system, and the U.S. military, with Republicans expressing more pride in all of them than Democrats.

The Gallup report points to the polarization of today's political climate as a possible cause for the decrease in overall pride.

Without a significant national event to rally Americans from both sides of the political spectrum, "these historically low readings on American pride are likely to continue until (President Donald) Trump is no longer in office," the report says.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Proud to be an American? Gallup poll hits historic low of 45% ahead of Fourth of July holiday