Less than half of Americans think capitalism is working as patriotism, support for democracy tanks
By Anthony Blair
Published July 9, 2026, 4:00 p.m. ET
They’re seeing red.
Fewer than half of Americans think capitalism is working — and support for democracy and patriotism has tanked in the last decade thanks to the nation’s pessimistic youth, according to a sobering new poll.
As the nation turned 250 years old, only 48% of Americans believe that capitalism is working well in the US, compared to 60% who said so a decade ago, according to a survey released Wednesday by the Wall Street Journal and the National Opinion Research Center.
Just over half (51%) of those surveyed said American capitalism was working not too well or not at all well, the study showed.
The same study found just 12% of Americans believe democracy is working extremely or very well in the US, compared to a staggering 56% who said it is working not very well or not at all well.
Many of those who answered also felt that the American Dream, tying together democracy and capitalism, is further out of reach than ever before.
Just over a third (35%) of respondents said that the American Dream — that if you work hard, you’ll get ahead — still holds true, down from 53% in 2012.
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https://nypost.com/2026/07/09/us-news/under-half-of-americans-think-capitalism-works-well-survey-shows/
