A recent survey shows that American pride has hit a record low.
There was a time when it was fashionable — dare we say cool — to show off your American pride. Patriotic-themed apparel like Old Navy’s flag T-shirts used to be not only a Fourth of July staple but a symbol of unity, as we saw following the deadly terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.
But the reality is national pride isn’t as strong as it once was — and it now sits at a record low amid increasing political polarization. According to a Gallup poll released in June, slightly more than a third of U.S. adults say they’re extremely proud to be an American after spiking as high as 70 percent in the years following 9/11.
“Pride in one’s national identity continues to differ most sharply among partisans, with more Republicans than Democrats saying they are proud,” Gallup wrote.
But how deep does the partisan divide run? Here’s a closer look at these findings (and the larger trends they exemplify), which groups are seeing the biggest drops in patriotism, and how politics play into expressions of pride.
How patriotic are Americans?
Gallup has been conducting this survey since 2001. When asked how proud they are to be an American, respondents can reply with “extremely proud,” “very proud,” “moderately proud,” “only a little proud,” or “not at all proud.
Today, 39 percent of people are “extremely proud” — a new low from last year’s 38 percent. Another 22 percent say they’re “moderately proud,” 7 percent are “only a little” and 4 percent are “not at all.” That said, altogether about two-thirds of Americans express national pride.
But this drop in patriotism is nothing new: Extreme pride peaked at 70 percent between 2002 and 2004 before steadily dropping off the next year. But it didn’t fall below the majority level until 2018, when that sense of extreme pride hovered around 42 percent.
Who’s the least patriotic?
Unsurprisingly, young people — including millennials and Gen Z — tend to be less patriotic. Just 18 percent of those aged 18 to 34 said they were “extremely” patriotic, which marks a steep drop from 85 percent in 2013. And this was true across party lines: Younger adults across the aisle are “significantly less proud than older adults of the same political persuasion.”
On the older hand, older generations had greater national pride. The Gallup survey found that 40 percent of those aged 35 to 54 and 50 percent of those 55 fell into that “extremely proud” umbrella.
Why are Americans becoming less patriotic?
As is the case with many issues these days, partisan politics has a lot to do with how people responded to this survey.
According to the latest Gallup findings, national pride from conservatives far outstripped that of their liberal counterparts, with 60 percent of Republicans expressing extreme pride in being an American, compared with only 29 percent of Democrats. It’s worth noting that conservatives have long been considered more vocal about their national pride, and debates like the recent controversy over Jason Aldean’s song “Try That in a Small Town” often reveal just how deeply divided the right and the left can be on matters of culture and society.
But as the study points out, this gap also has to do with age. “While Republican Party identification may be associated with greater national pride, the fact that Republicans tend to be older than Democrats and Independents also contributes to the party differences,” the report’s authors said.
American pride isn’t the only issue the two parties don’t agree on. One timely example is the Supreme Court, which has dramatically come to the national forefront after making divisive rulings on issues like abortion, student loans, and affirmative action. Polling from Statista and YouGov released this month found that 30 percent of Republicans strongly approved of SCOTUS, compared to a mere 8 percent of Democrats. And while 53 percent of Democrats strongly disapprove of the court, only 15 percent of the GOP said the same.
This all goes to show that almost everything has been politicized these days — and apparently, showing pride in your country seems to be no different.
