America's Best Days

Most Americans now think they live in a basically decent country, and expect newcomers to adopt the American way of life.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 60% of Likely U.S. Voters believe American society is generally fair and decent. Twenty-nine percent (29%) disagree, saying America is basically unfair and discriminatory, while 11% say they are not sure. Those findings are an improvement from January 2021, when 54% said America was fair and decent. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

Sixty percent (60%) of voters believe that when people move to America from other parts of the world, they should adopt America's culture, language and heritage. Twenty-six percent (26%) think newcomers should instead try to maintain the culture, language and heritage of their own country, while another 14% are not sure. Those findings have changed little since November 2019.

Belief that American society is basically fair and decent peaked at 74% in early 2010, while belief that newcomers should adopt America’s culture reached as high as 82% in early 2008.

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The survey of 1,000 U.S. Likely Voters was conducted on March 7-8, 2022 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

Seventy-five percent (75%) of Republicans, 45% of Democrats and 60% of voters not affiliated with either major party believe American society is generally fair and decent. Forty-three percent (43%) of Democrats, 17% of Republicans and 26% of unaffiliated voters think America is basically unfair and discriminatory. Democrats have improved their opinion of America since January 2021, when 54% said the country was unfair and discriminatory.

Seventy-eight percent (78%) of Republicans, 44% of Democrats and 59% of unaffiliated voters say when people move to America from other parts of the world, they should adopt America's culture, language and heritage. Forty percent (40%) of Democrats, 13% of Republicans and 24% of unaffiliated voters believe newcomers should instead try to maintain the culture, language and heritage of their own country.

Men (67%) are significantly more likely than women voters (52%) to think American society is fair and decent, and men are also more likely to think newcomers should adopt American culture.

Sixty-three percent (63%) of whites, 46% of Black voters and 55% of other minorities think America is generally fair and decent, while 26% of whites, 42% of Black voters and 31% of other minorities view America as unfair and discriminatory.

Older voters are much more likely than those under 40 to believe that when people move to America from other parts of the world, they should adopt America's culture, language and heritage.

Voters with annual incomes under $50,000 are most likely to think newcomers should adopt American culture.

College-educated voters are more likely to view America as generally fair and decent, but less likely to think newcomers should adopt American culture.

Government employees are more likely than private sector workers to believe American society is basically fair and decent. Retirees are most likely to think that when people move to America from other parts of the world, they should adopt America's culture, language and heritage.

Public schools are getting worse, most voters believe, and the Republican Party has a slight edge over Democrats on the education issue.

President Joe Biden’s declaration that the United States will welcome refugees from Ukraine “with open arms” is overwhelmingly popular with voters.

Additional information from this survey and a full demographic breakdown are available to the public as well as to Platinum Members.

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