An article summarized by Gallup:
A new Gallup survey found that only 19% of Americans believe the signers of the Declaration of Independence would be pleased with how the United States has turned out, while 77% say the founders would be disappointed. That marks a sharp decline in optimism compared with previous decades, as the share who think the founders would approve has fallen significantly since the early 2000s. The skepticism is widespread across political, age, racial, and income groups, though Republicans are somewhat more likely than Democrats to believe the founders would be satisfied.
Despite those concerns, Americans remain more optimistic when evaluating the nation's overall progress. Roughly seven in ten Americans say the United States has achieved at least a fair amount of success in living up to its founding ideals over the past 250 years. While that figure is lower than readings recorded during the country's bicentennial in 1976 and after the September 11 attacks in 2002, it still suggests that most Americans believe the nation has made meaningful progress toward its original principles.
The survey highlights a distinction in how Americans view the country's history versus its current condition. Many respondents acknowledge significant achievements over the nation's 250-year history while simultaneously expressing dissatisfaction with where the country stands today. Gallup noted that this more negative view of the present cuts across demographic and political lines, suggesting a broad sense of unease about the country's current direction rather than concerns confined to any single group.
