Only about half of young Americans say democracy is best form of government

Only about half of young Americans in a poll released Wednesday say democracy is the greatest form of government.

A poll from The Economist/YouGov shows that among U.S. adults surveyed, support for democracy is strongest among older Americans, but it declines in every subsequent younger age bracket — with the weakest levels of support among adults younger than 45.

Only 54 percent of U.S. adults ages 18-29 agree with the statement, “Democracy is the greatest form of government,” including 21 percent who agree strongly and 34 percent who agree somewhat. Another 34 percent say they neither agree nor disagree, and 12 percent say they disagree.

That level of support is similar among U.S. adults ages 30-44 — 55 percent say they agree with the statement, including 26 percent who agree strongly and 29 percent who agree somewhat. Thirty-six percent say they neither agree nor disagree, and 9 percent say they disagree.

Support for democracy is significantly higher among older demographics — with 70 percent of U.S. adults ages 45-64 agreeing that democracy is the best form of government, and 86 percent of adults ages 65 and older saying the same.

The poll was conducted on Dec. 16-18 via web interviews with 1,500 U.S. adults, and one respondent opted to skip this question in the interview. The margin of error was 3.5 percentage points.

The poll comes amid heightened concerns across party lines that young people no longer feel compelled to participate in democratic systems, arguing it has not worked for them.

A recent poll from Harvard University’s Institute of Politics showed young voters were less likely to say they planned to vote in the 2024 election. Among respondents aged 18-29 who said they voted in the 2020 election, only 49 percent said they would “definitely” vote in the next presidential election; 17 percent said they would “probably” vote in the 2024 election.

The Economist/YouGov poll shows support for democracy is similar across party lines, with a slightly higher share of Democrats agreeing with the statement.

Asked whether they agreed with the statement, 77 percent of Democrats and 71 percent of Republicans said they did. Only 52 percent of independents said they agreed. By ideology, 75 percent of self-described liberals agreed, 73 percent of self-described conservatives agreed, and 68 percent of self-described moderates agreed.

Income levels also seemed to influence the levels of support, with 59 percent of U.S. adults making less than $50K agreeing with the statement, compared with 70 percent of those making $50,000-$100,000 and 75 percent of those making more than $100,000.