--- title: Most Think US Politics Has Hit a 'Dangerous Low Point' description: A new poll says that seven out of 10 Americans think politics has reached a dangerous low point canonical: https://time.com/5001383/us-politics-dangerous-low-point-poll/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-28T17:30:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:01.480Z article:section: Politics og:title: Most People Think Politics Has Hit a 'Dangerous Low Point' og:description: About 40% of those people said it was the "new normal" og:url: https://time.com/5001383/us-politics-dangerous-low-point-poll/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt721d3363f8f86352/6988e3bc8fd2ee23823596cc/gettyimages-826020114.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Veterans Affairs Announces New Technology To Provide Medical Care To Veterans og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Most People Think Politics Has Hit a 'Dangerous Low Point' twitter:description: About 40% of those people said it was the "new normal" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt721d3363f8f86352/6988e3bc8fd2ee23823596cc/gettyimages-826020114.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Most Americans Think U.S. Politics Has Hit a 'Dangerous Low Point,' Poll Finds ## Video: President Trump Blamed Criminals, Drug Companies, Mexico and China for the Opioid Crisis [Watch (HLS stream): President Trump Blamed Criminals, Drug Companies, Mexico and China for the Opioid Crisis](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZtI99Gva.m3u8) (1:29)  _Published 2017-10-26. President Trump blamed hardened criminals, pharmaceutical companies, Mexico and China for the opioid crisis in a White House address Thursday, reaching for the same targets he's long used for other problems._ by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Oct 28, 2017 5:30 PM UTC  U.S. President Donald J. Trump listens during a Department of Veterans Affairs announcement of a new program using video and software technology to provide medical care to veterans at The White House August 3, 2017 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald J. Trump listens during a Department of Veterans Affairs announcement of a new program using video and software technology to provide medical care to veterans at The White House August 3, 2017 in Washington, DC.Photo by Chris Kleponis-Pool—Getty by [Lisa Marie Segarra](https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/) ## Lisa Marie Segarra Oct 28, 2017 5:30 PM UTC A new poll shows that the majority of Americans think U.S. politics has reached a “dangerous low point.” Among the 71% respondents who said America’s politics had reached a low point, 31% said they believe this state is temporary, while 39% said they [think it is the “new normal,”](http://time.com/4942923/north-korea-japan-missile-kim-jong-un-guam-hokkaido/) the [Washington _Post_\-University of Maryland poll found.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2017/national/democracy-poll/?utm%5Fterm=.4a17252e163d) A 70% majority also said American political divisions today are at least as big they were during the [Vietnam War.](http://time.com/4992850/john-mccain-draft-trump-bone-spur/) The poll also found that six out of 10 people think the Trump administration, specifically, is dysfunctional, and another eight in 10 think Congress is as well. Money in politics was the most cited reason for the dysfunction, with 65% of people saying they blame money “a lot” for current political problems. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5001383/us-politics-dangerous-low-point-poll/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5001383/us-politics-dangerous-low-point-poll/"},"headline":"Most Americans Think U.S. Politics Has Hit a 'Dangerous Low Point,' Poll Finds","datePublished":"2017-10-28T17:30:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:01.480Z","description":"About 40% of those people said it was the \"new normal\"","url":"https://time.com/5001383/us-politics-dangerous-low-point-poll/","keywords":["politics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt721d3363f8f86352/6988e3bc8fd2ee23823596cc/gettyimages-826020114.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lisa Marie Segarra","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lisa-marie-segarra/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt721d3363f8f86352/6988e3bc8fd2ee23823596cc/gettyimages-826020114.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Veterans Affairs Announces New Technology To Provide Medical Care To Veterans","caption":"Veterans Affairs Announces New Technology To Provide Medical Care To Veterans","creditText":"Photo by Chris Kleponis-Pool—Getty","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/politics/","name":"politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5001383/us-politics-dangerous-low-point-poll/","name":"Most Americans Think U.S. Politics Has Hit a 'Dangerous Low Point,' Poll Finds"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"President Trump Blamed Criminals, Drug Companies, Mexico and China for the Opioid Crisis","description":"President Trump blamed hardened criminals, pharmaceutical companies, Mexico and China for the opioid crisis in a White House address Thursday, reaching for the same targets he's long used for other problems.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ZtI99Gva/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-10-26T21:33:29.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZtI99Gva.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5001383/us-politics-dangerous-low-point-poll/","duration":"PT1M29S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5001383/us-politics-dangerous-low-point-poll/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```