A Partial Democratic Rebound? Bright Line Watch 2026 has brought continued challenges to democratic institutions as the United States approaches the midterm elections, including partisan efforts to redraw congressional districts, renewed claims of widespread election fraud, and consequential Supreme Court rulings on presidential power and voting rights. Against this backdrop, we continue our research examining how political scientists, the American public, and forecasters assess both the current state of American democracy and its future trajectory.
Trump at a Low: Approval drops to 34% Angus Reid Institute New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds one-third (34%) of Americans approve of Trump’s performance as president, compared with three-in-five (58%) who disapprove. Approval has declined modestly but steadily from 37 per cent in December and January, while disapproval has remained the majority view throughout 2026.
How do Americans describe Donald Trump? Taylor Orth, YouGov A new YouGov poll on Donald Trump's personal qualities asked more than 1,000 Americans how much each of 22 descriptions applies to him — a lot, a little, or not at all.
Bipartisan Majorities in the Battlegrounds Agree on How to Prevent Social Security’s Insolvency and Preserve Benefits Program for Public Consultation, The University of Maryland While Congress has been unable to agree on solutions to prevent Social Security’s pending insolvency, new surveys of nearly 20,000 Americans in 11 competitive states and 28 competitive congressional districts reveal how Americans across party lines would tackle the budget shortfall and prevent benefit cuts. Is it wrong to help a relative get a job? Most Americans don't think so Taylor Orth, YouGov Many Americans endorse or are at least neutral about the practice of using personal connections to help someone get a job, a new YouGov poll finds.
Frequent social media users are more likely to prefer the algorithm to chronological feeds David Montgomery, YouGov Almost all (92%) of Americans say they spend time using social media on a typical day, including 73% who spend more than an hour. And far more of this social-media-obsessed country say they'd prefer social media posts to be arranged chronologically rather than sorted by an algorithm (46% vs. 26%). Another 4% say they would prefer posts to be manually curated, and 23% aren't sure.
