In celebration of the country's birthday Gallup took two separate polls to gauge the level of pride people have in the United States and to figure out how many people would like for their children to have a future in politics. While most Americans polled said that they are proud to be American very few of them would like their children to ever become part of the government, according to Gallup.
Despite a recent rash of scandals within the government (the IRS scandal, NSA surveillance programs being leaked, etc.) Americans are on the whole very proud of their country of origin. The poll found that 85 percent of people described themselves as either "extremely proud" or "very proud" to be American with only 4 percent saying they were "only a little proud" or "not at all proud," according to Gallup.
The survey grouped answers based on age, political affiliation and location. They found that despite differences there was very little variation in the level of pride.
"There are few differences by age on this pride dimension, while those in the South are slightly more likely than those in the East and West to say they are proud," Gallup's Frank Newport said. "Conservatives and Republicans are also slightly more likely to say they are proud than are liberals and Democrats."
While Americans tend to be proud of their country they feel that the signers of the Declaration of Independence would not share that pride. Seventy-one percent of people polled believe that the founding fathers would be disappointed in today's version of the United States.
Older people and Republicans were most likely to believe that the founding fathers would be disappointed; 86 percent of Republicans said they would be disappointed. Democrats had a more favorable view but 56 percent still believed that the signers of the Declaration of Independence would frown upon what their country has become.
In a separate poll Gallup asked people how they would feel about their child going into politics. Sixty-four percent of parents would like to avoid seeing their child's name on a ballot regardless of the child's gender.
"The results are the same whether the question is asked about a "child," a "son," or a "daughter," Gallup's Jeffrey Jones said. "There has been little change in the percentage of Americans who would favor a political career for their son or daughter of the past two decades."
One interesting finding from the poll is that people who identified as "nonwhite" tended to see a political career far more favorably; 42 percent of nonwhites would like to see their son go into politics compared to 26 percent of whites. When asked about a daughter the gap was larger with 45 percent of nonwhites supporting it compared to 25 percent of whites.
"The largest demographic differences among major subgroups are by race, with nonwhites much more likely than whites to say they would like to see their son or daughter go into politics," Jones said. "This is not a reaction to the fact that the current president is black, as Gallup has found that same racial difference when the question was asked in the 1990s when George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton were president."
One would think that the recent distrust in the government, congress has a 10 percent approval rating, would have influenced people's opinions in the poll. Gallup has found over the years that most people do not want their children to go into politics, only once has the percentage ever been over 30 percent.
"In fact, 1965 was the only time when more than 30 percent of Americans said they wanted their son to go into politics," Jones said. "The high point in favoring a political career for a son was 36 percent in 1965, at a time when Americans were still rallying around President Johnson after he took office following the death of John F. Kennedy."
