U.S. democracy is drastically declining, and disinformation is the reason.

American Bar Association, “ABA survey: U.S. democracy is weaker today — and disinformation is to blame,” American Bar Association, 04-23-2024, https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2024/04/survey-us-democracy-weaker-disinformation-to-blame/

WASHINGTON, April 23, 2024 — Democracy in the United States is weaker today than it was five years ago, and most people blame misinformation, disinformation and the political parties, according to a new national survey conducted for the American Bar Association.

The 2024 ABA Survey of Civic Literacy asked if democracy today is stronger or weaker than it was five years ago, who is mainly responsible for safeguarding our democracy and whether respondents are concerned about the upcoming November election. It also tested respondents’ knowledge of the U.S. government.

The survey is released each year to mark Law Day, observed annually on May 1. The results are from a nationally representative survey of 1,000 respondents conducted in English and Spanish by telephone March 4-9, 2024, by DAPA Research on behalf of the ABA. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percentage points.

Among the survey’s findings:

Democracy

A large majority — 74% — said U.S. democracy is weaker today than it was five years ago. Only 13% said it is stronger.

Among those who said our democracy is weaker, nearly 1 in 3 (31%) said the primary cause is misinformation and disinformation. Nearly as many (29%) blamed the political parties. Less than 10% blamed social media or lack of civility.