Topline
More than two thirds of Americans say they believe democracy in the United States is under serious threat as the country remains divided over polarizing issues, while another 73% believe politically-motivated violence in the country is a major problem, according to a NPR/PBS News/Marist poll released Tuesday.
A makeshift memorial for Minnesota State Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark Hortman.
The poll, which surveyed more than 1,300 adults in late June, says 76% of Americans believe the issues dividing the nation pose a serious threat to democracy.
Democrats and independents felt the most strongly about the risk to democracy (89% and 80% said they were worried, respectively), while only 57% of Republicans shared their concern.
Additionally, 73% of respondents said they think politically-motivated violence is a major problem in the United States, with Democrats (75%) and Independents (79%) again more concerned than Republicans (69%).
The NPR/PBS News/Marist poll also asked Americans about recent U.S. airstrikes on nuclear facilities in Iran and President Donald Trump's deportation policies, which have led to a spike in detentions of non-criminal immigrants to the country.
Three-fourths of respondents said they are concerned or very concerned that Iran will further retaliate against the United States for the military action, a concern shared across party lines, while only 50% of Americans say they agree or strongly agree that the bombings should have been carried out.
Concerns over immigration, however, differ greatly based on party identification: 81% of Republicans say they feel harsh U.S. deportation policies are making the country safer, while only 17% of Democrats and 34% of Independents said the same.
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American political division has been deepening for decades, experts say, and one 2022 study found the country had reached levels of polarization not seen since the Great Depression and Civil War. In turn, political violence in the United States has risen. There were 25 attacks and plots targeting elected officials, political candidates, judges, political staff and other government employees from 2016 to 2025, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, with only two such incidents recorded in the two decades prior. On Monday, a funeral was held for Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, victims of a Minnesota political assassination that targeted four state lawmakers. A man allegedly set fire to Penn. Gov. Josh Shapiro's home in April, and U.S. Capitol Police have reported a rise in threats against members of Congress. Trump was the target of two assassination attempts during the 2024 election cycle.
The number of politically motivated attacks and plots against government agents in just the past five years is three times higher than those in the previous 25 years combined, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.