NBC News Poll: 80% Say U.S. Civic Education Lacking, Americans Split on Strong Executive Leadership

A new NBC News poll found that 80 percent of American adults believe the United States places too little emphasis on civic education. Fifty-one percent said the focus is much too little. The survey of 3,000 adults was conducted May 29 through June 7 via telephone interviews and text-message online surveys.

The margin of error is plus or minus 2 percentage points. The view that civic education receives insufficient attention crossed partisan lines. Eighty-seven percent of progressives and 84 percent of MAGA Republicans said there is too little focus on civics.

Eighty-four percent of highly engaged Americans who follow public affairs closely said the emphasis is too little, compared with 69 percent of those who do not follow public affairs. Americans of all age groups expressed the same concern. Trust in government institutions was low.

Twelve percent of adults said they have confidence in Congress, and 18 percent said they have confidence in the federal government. Twenty-seven percent expressed confidence in local government. Eleven percent of adults said they have confidence in the national news media.

Just more than a third expressed confidence in colleges and universities. Thirty percent said they have confidence in public schools, a level that has remained relatively unchanged since 2000. Americans were evenly divided on the value of strong executive leadership that bypasses Congress and the Supreme Court.

Forty-eight percent agreed the country needs such leadership to solve problems directly, while 48 percent said it is dangerous. In a 1976 Gallup bicentennial poll, 49 percent said the country needed strong leadership and 44 percent said it was dangerous.