Forty-four percent of Americans said the country is becoming less patriotic, significantly more than the share who said Americans are becoming more patriotic, according to a survey published Tuesday.
The Economist/YouGov poll found that 44 percent of Americans said they think the country is becoming less patriotic, while 14 percent said they think the nation is becoming more patriotic. Some 42 percent said the level of patriotism has remained about the same.
The majority of Americans, 75 percent, consider themselves either very, at 37 percent, or somewhat, at 38 percent, patriotic. About 16 percent said they are “not very” patriotic, while 9 percent said they are “not at all” patriotic.
Twice as many Republicans said they are very patriotic, 54 percent, compared to Democrats, 27 percent, the survey found.
Just more than half of Americans, 51 percent, said they have an American flag at home. When divided by party, 68 percent of Republican voters said they have the U.S. flag at home, more than 30 points higher than the 37 percent of Democrats who said they had one.
Nearly a quarter of Americans, 23 percent, display their American flag every day. Six percent said sometimes, while 14 percent stated they have it out on holidays and special occasions. Another 6 percent said they never display the flag, according to the poll.
The majority of respondents, 70 percent, said flying an American flag is an act of patriotism. Some 16 percent disagreed, while 14 percent were unsure. Republicans and Democrats differed on the question with 89 percent of GOP voters saying flying the U.S. flag is an act of patriotism, and about 58 percent of Democratic Party voters said the same.
The survey was conducted June 27-30 among 1,648 U.S. adults. The margin of error was 3.3 percentage points.
