How would you describe America in one word? Poll finds some not-so-flattering answers
“Shameful,” “depressing,” “turmoil” and “joke” – these were all words used to describe America in a recent poll.
But the answer that came up the most often to describe the country today was “divided,” according to a Monmouth University poll. More than 1 in 10 respondents used that word or a similar answer such as “polarized,” “conflicted” or “fractured.”
Runner-ups included: “chaos,” “mess,” “confused” and “disappointing,” the poll shows.
A majority of answers used to describe the state of the union were negative, the poll shows, with only 15% of respondents using a positive word. Some of the positive words were “good,” “home” and “wonderful.”
Almost half of respondents believe Americans have become more divided since President Joe Biden took office in 2021. In comparison, about two-thirds of adults felt the country had become more divided during Donald Trump’s term in office.
“The country is seen as a little less strong than it was four years ago, although that opinion was fleeting,” Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute said in a news release.
“At the same time, fewer Americans feel we are becoming more divided than we have been over the past few years, but this disunity remains the dominant image of the state of the country,” he added.
The poll also found that:
- 24% of adults said they feel like America is “headed in the right direction,” compared to 46% last April.
- 38% of the respondents remain optimistic about the policies that Biden will implement during the rest of his term – down from 61% when he first took office, the poll shows.
- A quarter of Americans say the country is ”not at all strong.”
As the public is preparing for the 2022 midterm elections, voters are evenly split between preferring to have Republicans or Democrats in control of Congress, the poll shows.
The Monmouth poll also asked respondents about the impact that recent surges in gas prices had on them. According to the poll, almost half of the respondents who earn less than $50,000 a year said the rising gas prices caused them “a great deal of financial hardship.”
That being said, most Americans said they support the U.S. ban on Russian oil imports – even those who were hurt the most by gas prices, the poll shows.
The poll was conducted by phone from March 10 to 14 with 809 adults in the U.S. The results in this poll have a margin of error of more or less 3.5 percentage points, the release said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 1:09 PM with the headline "How would you describe America in one word? Poll finds some not-so-flattering answers."
