As July 4 weekend approaches, the latest Fox News survey finds that while a majority of voters still believes the U.S. is the best place to live, that number is lower than it’s ever been. In addition, over half lack pride in the country, and a record low number believe America’s best days are ahead.
For the first time, the survey finds fewer than half of voters think America’s best days are ahead of us (43%), a 9-point drop from two years ago, a 19-point decrease since 2017, and down 20 points since 2012.
That decrease in optimism since 2012 is widespread: Republicans (-29), women (-24), independents (-22), White voters (-20), voters under age 30 (-19), voters ages 65+ (-19), men (-15 points), and Democrats (-12).
Pride in the country is down compared to 2016, but this year saw an uptick.
In 2016, 50% were proud of the country and that held steady in 2017 at 51% before dropping to 39% in 2022. Today, 44% are proud and 53% are not.
The shift can be largely attributed to a more positive outlook among Democrats, men, and voters ages 65+. Last year, Democrats were split (46% proud, 48% not proud) while today over half are proud (54% vs. 44% not proud). For men, over half were not proud last year (41-55%) while today they split (49-48%). Voters over 65 were in the doldrums last year (41-54%) but have bounced back into positive territory today (57-39%).
Overall, 64% of voters say the United States is the best country in the world to live in. That’s down from 69% in 2021 and a high of 84% in 2011.
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This decline is seen across most demographics in the last decade, yet majorities of Democrats, Republicans and independents still feel the U.S. is the best.
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Conducted June 23-26, 2023, under the joint direction of Beacon Research (D) and Shaw & Company Research (R), this Fox News Poll includes interviews with 1,005 registered voters nationwide randomly selected from a voter file who spoke with live interviewers on landlines and cellphones. The total sample has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
