58pc Americans believe US democracy in danger of collapse

One year after the storming of the US Capitol by the supporters of Donald Trump, six out of 10 Americans believe the country’s democracy is in danger of collapse, according to a poll released Wednesday.

Seventy-six per cent of those surveyed in the poll by Quinnipiac University said they think political instability in the United States is a bigger danger than foreign threats.

A majority of those polled -- 58 per cent -- said they think the nation’s democracy is in danger of collapse. Thirty-seven per cent disagreed.

Fifty-three per cent meanwhile said they expect political divisions in the country to worsen over their lifetime.

As for the likelihood of another attack in the United States like the one on Congress, 53 per cent of those polled said it was very or somewhat likely.

A special committee of the House of Representatives is investigating the 6 January, 2021 storming of the Capitol, with 61 per cent of those surveyed saying they back the probe. A total of 83 per cent of Democrats favour it and 60 per cent of Republicans oppose it.

The poll also had bad news for president Joe Biden with just 33 per cent of those surveyed saying they approved of the job he was doing.

Fifty-three per cent said they disapproved while 13 per cent had no opinion.

Biden had a 38 per cent job approval rating in a Quinnipiac poll in November.

The nationwide poll of 1,313 US adults was conducted between 7 and 10 January and has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points, Quinnipiac said.