The news from 2025 often felt unrelenting. President Trump’s second term. National Guard deployments. Major international incidents. Escalating immigration crackdowns. Political violence. A government shutdown. Scandals. Mass protests. And then more on top of that.
It would be easy to observe that most Americans are dissatisfied with the direction of the country and leave it at that. After all, dissatisfaction with where the country is headed has been a near-constant feature of American public opinion for the past two decades.
But a wider look at the American mood going into 2026 reveals something more complicated. While many Americans are angry and scared about the way things are going in the United States today, others feel hopeful, excited, and proud. The country is not experiencing a single shared emotional reality.
Even more striking, Americans are acutely aware of this divide itself. Across the political spectrum, people describe the country as too polarized, political debate as more intense than it needs to be, and communities as pulled apart by news cycles and social media rather than held together by shared values or everyday concerns.
The Emotional Divide
When asked to describe how they feel about the way things are going in the United States today, about a quarter of Americans say they feel angry, with another 14% describing themselves as depressed and 13% as scared. These emotions are especially concentrated among Democrats, whose anger has climbed steadily over the past year, rising from 31% at the start of 2025 to 41% today.
At the same time, hopefulness remains a central part of the national mood. Eighteen percent of Americans say they feel hopeful about the country’s direction, making it the second most common response overall. Smaller but meaningful shares say they feel excited (7%), proud (6%), or satisfied (5%). Among Republicans, 37% primarily describe their feelings as hopeful, alongside 17% of Independents, levels that have remained largely unchanged throughout the past year.
The single largest shift in Americans’ mood came in September, following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Republicans responded with a surge in anger and a noticeable drop in the share saying they felt proud or excited about the direction of the country. Independents and Democrats, by contrast, were more likely to describe feeling scared, overwhelmed, or depressed. Across groups, the violence registered less as a partisan moment and more as a signal that political conflict in the country had crossed a line.
A Call for a Less Polarized America
Even with all the stress Americans carry in their daily lives around money, family, and health, it is politics and polarization that most often show up when people explain why they are dissatisfied with the direction of the country. Americans describe polarization as something that shows up in their relationships, their media consumption, and their sense of safety.
What stands out most in these responses is a shared exhaustion with political conflict and an awareness of polarization itself as a problem. Throughout 2025, mentions of polarization and division spiked following episodes of political violence, clashes with protesters, and what were seen as incendiary remarks from politicians.
Notably, concern about division does not disappear among those who feel satisfied or optimistic about the country’s direction. Even supporters of the current administration frequently describe polarization as a problem that weakens community cohesion and makes it harder to move forward together.
Across perspectives, people want to believe that disagreement can happen without tipping into hostility or fear. They worry that differences have become too entrenched, that people are being pushed toward the extremes, and that politics has shifted from problem-solving to taking sides. Americans may disagree deeply about leadership and policy, but many share a sense that constant escalation between people with opposing beliefs is making the country harder to live in. And for many, there is a conviction underneath it all: it does not have to be this way.
And for many, there is a conviction underneath it all: it does not have to be this way.
Final Thoughts
One year in, the country is not experiencing a dramatic shift in how people feel about its direction. Instead, it is living with a persistent, uneven emotional landscape, alongside a shared sense that Americans are more divided than they should be. Polarization, in this context, is not an abstract political condition. It is a lived social reality that shapes how people relate to one another and how much energy they have to keep engaging.
As we reflect on this last year, several questions stand out.
How can community engagement help rebuild a sense of togetherness and shared purpose?
How do we shift our emotional focus back toward our own communities, rather than constantly reacting to what we see in the news?
And what can Americans do locally to break out of the isolation and division they say they dislike about national politics today?
Across perspectives, the political climate is described as exhausting. Rhetoric feels sharper, communities feel more divided, and the result for many is a mix of fear and anger. Americans are not asking to agree on everything. They are asking to trust that disagreement does not have to tear communities apart.
Community is the way forward.
Murmuration is a non-profit that organizes a network of partners and equips them with the insights, tools, and services needed to help communities build and activate the power to transform America into a nation where everyone thrives. murmuration.org.
Really compelling data here. The emotional asymmetry between partisan groups is stark but its the shared exhaustion across perspectives that stands out most. Working with civic orgs, I've seen how the meta-awareness of polarization can actually make things worse because it becomes its own feedback loop. Your point about local community being the way forward resonates, tho scaling that is the hard part.