Most Americans Call Themselves Patriots, But Many See Patriotism in Country as a Whole on the Decline

PALO ALTO, Calif., July 10, 2009:

In a YouGov PollingPoint poll, fielded just after the July 4th holiday, we asked Americans about the meaning of patriotism. 84% of respondents describe themselves as being "very patriotic" or "somewhat patriotic," though the frequency is much higher among those over 65 (68% of whom consider themselves "very patriotic") as compared to those under 30 (where only 22% consider themselves "very patriotic"). Many more (43%) think patriotism is on the decline than on the rise (13%).

Presidential Approval Tracker

The July 5-7 poll measured President Obama’s approval rating at 51%. This is the lowest approval rating recorded by YouGov PollingPoint since President Obama took office.

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Methodology:

These results are from a weekly YouGov PollingPoint public opinion tracking poll conducted for publication in The Economist. The poll surveyed 1,000 respondents and was fielded from July 5, 2009 to July 7, 2009. Results from interviews conducted online by members of the PollingPoint panel are representative of the U.S. adult population. The margin of error for this poll is +/- 5%.