Overview
- The Gallup poll, released Wednesday, found almost nine in 10 U.S. adults now say corruption is widespread in government, a roughly 10-point rise from last year.
- The overall jump is driven mainly by Democrats, whose share saying corruption is common rose about 34 points from the level recorded during President Biden’s last year in office.
- More than eight in 10 Republicans already viewed government corruption as widespread and that share has been comparatively stable over time.
- About seven in 10 Americans see corruption as widespread in business, which is substantially lower than their views of government corruption.
- Democrats are trying to use the poll to make corruption a central midterm issue, and Gallup’s finding places the United States well above other advanced economies on perceived government corruption; the poll measures public opinion and not legal findings.