WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Here’s a set of numbers to contemplate.
Earlier this week, Siena College released its latest poll. And along with the usual questions about politicians, it asked New Yorkers how likely they think it is that the United States will continue to be a democratic republic in 2030.
The numbers were not encouraging.
Only 29 percent of those polled said it was very likely. Another 38 percent said it was somewhat likely.
17 percent said not very likely, and five percent said not likely at all.
Looked at by political affiliation, one third of Republicans, a quarter of independents and 17 percent of Democrats didn’t think it very or at all likely that the republic will continue.
And if you look at the numbers from upstate, where we live, they’re equally bleak.
“Only 20 percent of upstate voters thinks it’s very likely that in 2030 the U.S. will be a democracy. How scary is that?” said Steven Greenberg, Siena pollster.
Greenberg said it’s very hard to imagine that a decade ago, nearly one in four New Yorkers would say American democracy was not likely to exist a decade later.
So is there any god news?
Greenberg sees a hint of one in the numbers.
“I know we’re an experiment, but we’re approaching our 250th anniversary.”
“The fact that everybody recognizes we have a problem, maybe that is the first step in trying to find a solution to build back confidence in a democracy,” he said.
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