{"id":35759,"date":"2026-06-15T14:23:53","date_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=35759"},"modified":"2026-06-15T14:26:23","modified_gmt":"2026-06-15T18:26:23","slug":"americans-attitudes-on-the-bicentennial-and-at-age-250","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peterlevine.ws\/?p=35759","title":{"rendered":"Americans’ attitudes on the Bicentennial and at age 250"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I played a very modest advisory role in the new NBC News Poll with More Perfect headlined “America 250.”<\/a> As the graph above shows, most Americans say that we have succeeded (either a great deal or a fair amount) “over these 250 years in achieving the ideals for which this country was founded, as you understand them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was a little surprised that these answers were quite similar at the Bicentennial–just a bit more positive in 1976 than they are today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, there are very big differences in how various groups answer these questions. More than twice as many older people than 18-24s think that we have achieved “a great deal” in pursuit of our ideals. Republicans are nearly four times more likely than Democrats to agree with that statement (51% of Republicans versus 13% of Democrats). Compared to both Blacks and Asian-Americans, both Whites and Latinos are far more likely to say that we have achieved a great deal toward our ideals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IPSOS asked the same question<\/a> this April and got the same response (77% thought we have succeeded a great deal or a fair amount). IPSOS also asked in what ways we have affected the world over 250 years, for good or ill. I show those responses below. <\/p>\n\n\n\n