A new Gallup poll finds that Americans’ perception of government corruption is at a record high, with nearly 90% saying corruption is widespread throughout the U.S. government. The survey reports that 89% of respondents answer “yes” to whether corruption is widespread, an increase of 10 percentage points compared with last year.
Outlets also note that concern is widespread across political groups. The Independent and Washington Times report that views are common across party lines, with a sharp rise among Democrats in recent years. Washington Times adds that Democrats’ concern is now only marginally higher than Republicans’, highlighting rare bipartisan convergence. The Washington Post similarly focuses on the year-over-year increase, describing the shift as near 90%.
While the outlets differ slightly in emphasis—some highlighting party-specific changes, others focusing on the overall record level and recent growth—they all attribute the results to the same Gallup measure and describe a substantial, sustained rise in perceived government corruption.
