In Brief:
- Messages of division and distrust of government are common fare on social media.
- Previous research regarding the origins of these attitudes has attributed them to messaging by parties rather than popular opinion.
- New research from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds consensus that government is essential to solving social problems. Respondents also had a desire for community unity.
Are Americans too far apart, too divided to work together?
Not according to recent research by the left-leaning Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF). “People agree broadly on the priorities for their communities and on the daily challenges they face,” says Lauren Smith, a vice president at the foundation.
Smith sees the federal government shutdown as an especially important time to counter narratives driven by political rhetoric and social media algorithms, including the notion that people have overwhelming distrust or disdain for government.
Two-thirds of the people surveyed wanted government to do more to meet the needs of people, Smith says. Nine out of 10 said that governments are most responsible for solving the problems of affordable housing and the high cost of living, especially state and local governments. They don’t believe that the resources of charitable or organizations or nonprofits match the size of these problems.
These findings feel important at a time when “we’re being sold the story that everyone doesn’t believe in government,” Smith says.
Change Levers
The makeup of the survey group, just over 2,200 people, included a balance of demographic characteristics such as race, political affiliation and education that was consistent with the country’s population. The survey was conducted in June and July 2025, and focus groups in April.
The research found high levels of consensus around concepts such as the right for everyone in a community to have access to safe, affordable housing and jobs (94 percent agreed) and that everyone in a community should feel welcome (92 percent).
People are counting on government to make their lives better, Smith says, but it also emerged that they are willing to help.
“We found that there’s an optimism about their ability to make change at their neighborhood and local level, if they’re able to work with their neighbors,” she says. (Six in 10 believed this was possible.)
The researchers found high levels of agreement around concepts that could foster such cooperation. The characteristics of a community in which they would want to live included members from “lots” of different cultures, residents looking out for one another, and appreciation for varying backgrounds and experiences.
Democracy and Participation
The findings from this recent work echo other research. In 2023, Rachel Kleinfeld of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace published a review of the literature around political division. “Americans are not as ideologically polarized as they believe themselves to be,” she said in a Governing interview about what she had found.
Smith served as health commissioner for the state of Massachusetts and her work at RWJF includes managing its healthy communities programs. She is struck by the desire for connection and engagement that emerged from the survey and focus groups.
Nine out of 10 are concerned about political division, and recognize that division is being amplified by social media. “They're not looking for that,” Smith says. “It doesn't seem that the politicians are listening to their constituents, who don't want them to be behaving in that way.”
People want to come together to address the challenges in their community and participate in democracy, she says. “If anything, these findings reinforce that there are people out here who want that to work.”
