New Polling Records Steep Decline in American National Pride Over the Past Decade

Fresh survey data from two leading U.S. research institutions shows that American pride in their country’s history and the functioning of its democracy has dropped considerably over the past 10 years.

The latest poll from AP-NORC finds that public pride across several key national attributes has fallen sharply since 2017. This downturn extends to public regard for the U.S. military and the nation’s political influence across the globe.

Separate new tracking from Gallup puts this trend in historic context: only 53% of U.S. adults report being “extremely” or “very” proud to be American. That reading marks the lowest level of national pride recorded since Gallup began tracking this metric back in 2001.

The overall findings point to a broad, widespread drop in patriotic sentiment across a period defined by constant national upheaval. This turbulent stretch includes most of former President Donald Trump’s first term, the disruptive COVID-19 pandemic, and surging inflation that fueled broad public discontent and a major political backlash against current President Joe Biden.

Even as negative public sentiment about the country’s trajectory grows, most U.S. adults still say that being American is “extremely” or “very” important to their personal identity. This result highlights that a deep, enduring connection to national identity remains widespread, even amid rising dissatisfaction with the nation’s current standing.