There are a few reasons, with Republicans and Democrats completely switching their opinions in the last few years. People from other countries also agree that American democracy is no longer an excellent example of what democracy should look like. 

In comparison, just 8% of those surveyed believe that the U.S. has never been a good example of democracy, with 19% believing that it is still a good example. 

22% of Democrats and 17% of Republicans believe the U.S. is a good example of democracy. Despite this, in February 2021, the opposite was true, as 16% of Democrats and 24% of Republicans believed that U.S. democracy was good. 

However, the main difference was in age. Of the voters aged 18 to 35, only 53% are pro-democracy, and 25% are skeptical about it. Compared to voters aged 65 and older, 89% are pro-democracy, with just 6% being skeptical.

There is no exact reason why this might be, but it is an interesting look into people’s thoughts and opinions depending on their voter status.

This poll was taken before Joe Biden had to drop out of the presidential race. Still, at that time, 53% of Canadians believed that it would be more beneficial for Canada if Biden had a second term as President, whereas 18% thought it would be better if Trump became President.

France and Mexico were the most critical, as 40% of people from both countries believe that the U.S. isn’t a good example of democracy. Meanwhile, 60% of respondents from Germany, the UK, and Japan believe that while the U.S. used to be a good example of democracy, this is no longer the case.

There was also the issue of Trump being the first convicted felon to run for U.S. President and Biden’s struggles when answering questions and taking part in debates, which eventually led to him pulling out of his re-run for President.

Sanders warned that the U.S. would likely become an oligarchy due to three major institutional investors holding all the power. BlackRock, Vanguard and State Street have trillions of dollars of wealth and are significant shareholders in 500 U.S. companies. 

There have also been efforts to politicize election administration and to foreclose electoral competition through extreme gerrymandering. This has people worried about the state the U.S. will be in over the next few years and beyond.

Democracy’s decline is slow on purpose. This is in the hope that voters don’t realize a decline in democracy until it is too late and not much more can be done about it. 

Instead of saying it is a vote on taxes or healthcare, they have pitched the election as being a vote between continuing as a republic or having a dictatorship, with voters’ decisions making all the difference.