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Democrats’ confidence in US institutions has declined to a record low, while Republicans’ confidence has increased since last year, a June Gallup poll found.
Gallup surveyed Americans’ confidence in nine institutions — church/organized religion, the military, the Supreme Court, banks, public schools, newspapers, Congress, organized labor and big business — as it has done since 1979. In 2025, the average of Democrats’ confidence in these institutions was 26%, compared with Republicans’ average confidence of 37%. The overall average of US adults’ confidence was 28%, unchanged from last year.
Gallup found that the only other time that Democrats’ confidence average fell below 30% was in 2023, when it hit 29%. Republicans’ lowest confidence average occurred during former President Joe Biden’s term, ranging from 26% to 30%. This year’s results also show an 11-point percentage gap between the two parties’ confidence averages, the largest in the poll’s history.
Since the 1990s, Gallup has also tracked confidence in five other institutions: the presidency, the criminal justice system, the police, the medical system and television news. The average of Democrats’ confidence was 24%, compared with Republicans’ average of 41%. Polls in recent years have also included four other institutions, including small business, higher education, science and large tech companies.
Gallup found that Republicans’ confidence in most of the 17 total institutions has increased since 2024, with confidence in the presidency increasing by 73 points and confidence in the police increasing by 18 points. However, Democrats’ confidence decreased in many of the institutions, with the biggest shift occurring in confidence in the presidency, which declined 58 points, confidence in the military (-21), and the police (-16). Democrats’ confidence increased in just two institutions: higher education (+5) and public schools (+8).
Overall, US adults express the most confidence in small business, the military, and science, with the least amount of confidence found in Congress, television news and big business. Gallup noted that either small business or the military has consistently ranked at the top of the list since 1989, and Congress has been at the bottom since 2010.
