Polls tend to wind up screaming to us a lot of things we should already know, while also whispering about aspects of our daily life that we should find troubling.
Take the most recent survey of Pennsylvania residents published by Franklin & Marshall College on Thursday, which made headlines with some findings that might have seemed obvious to anyone who has picked up a newspaper, listened to a podcast or even done some casual eavesdropping at a church, supermarket or family gathering in the past decade.
It found that 64% of voters in the commonwealth who were polled are at least "somewhat dissatisfied" with how democracy is working in the United States. This is hardly earth-shattering information; it basically tells us that many people, a solid majority in fact, are distrustful of or not confident in the federal government. Which seems about right, not just now, but in many eras. Hardly ever is government popular with a solid majority of constituents.
The poll also found something rather universally popular among those Pennsylvania voters who don't believe our democracy is working: The principles of democracy.
Given these numbers -- and the fact common sense recognizes the likelihood they actually reflect the feelings of the electorate -- citizens throughout the state and specifically in our region should to come to grips with a few realities about democracy. The most significant of those factors being, we are the watchdog of those principles.
We are to be on the watch for anyone willing to compromise the ideals of democracy we hold so dear, to give us a democracy that is of a greater benefit to those who happen to be charge of it during a given moment in time. It is the ideals, and those willing to hold to them, that should always be our American north star.
While that is accomplished through a combination of understanding, education and vigilance we should all exercise at the voting booth, it also comes with a responsibility to pursue that not enough of us accept.
Ask yourself whether you are living up to that responsibility. The answer, in most cases, is "probably not."
The other numbers associated with that poll that also seem, from a common sense perspective, to be true. According to the poll, 86% of registered Democrats say they are dissatisfied with the way democracy is operating right now in the nation -- not surprising considering the Republicans control the White House and Congress. Meanwhile, 62% of Republicans polled say they're pretty happy with democracy right now -- hardly shocking for the same reason.
Here's guessing the roles would be reversed, with Dems pleased and members of the GOP concerned with democracy's state, if the same poll were taken when Democrat Joe Biden was president.
It seems too often these days that more Americans believe democracy works only when they're getting their way, when their "team" is in charge.
That leads to the sort of tribalism that runs counter to those principles of democracy -- free speech, voting rights for citizens and law and order by which even those in positions of power must abide -- that were overwhelmingly supported by the voters polled. Because in recent years, support for all of that being unfettered wanes depending on who is in charge and how much narrowing their scope keeps people in charge.
"It's clear to me that there are certain things that are largely filtered through a partisan lens and this is one of those issues," Bernwood Yost, director of the Center for Opinion Research, told The Reading Eagle in regard to the poll. "So if your team is in power in Washington, you probably feel better about our democratic institutions."
It's simple. And really what is driving negative views of our democracy, because that partisan approach is what those seeking power count on maintaining. Instead of trying to compromise with all, they focus on their specific view. That's great if average voters agree on everything one party stands for and wants to enact. But that's not how most people view things.
In this regard, voters should do more research. Gather more facts, from reliable sources. Understand that the ideals you want from democracy are shared eternally, not reserved for the time being by those in control. Find what is most important, and defend it with your voices, and your votes.
And come to grips with the reality that the democracy you say you want is only attainable if those you don't always agree with have access to that same democracy.