A new Fox News poll finds that government corruption is the top concern of American voters.
Public Perception Statistics (U.S.)
- Gallup Poll (2026): A record-high 89% of U.S. adults view government corruption as widespread, a 10-point increase from the previous year. This includes 91% of Democrats, 90% of independents, and 83% of Republicans [Source: Gallup Poll]. [1, 2]
- University of Massachusetts Amherst Poll (August 2026): 97% of Americans believe at least some corruption exists in the federal government, with 75% stating there is “a great deal” [Source: UMass Amherst Poll]. [1, 2]
- Brennan Center for Justice Poll (May 2026): 92% of registered voters view corruption as a significant systemic problem in government and politics [Source: Brennan Center]. [1, 2]
More than 9 in 10 voters (92 percent) believe corruption is a big problem in politics and government. Large majorities of voters also view the last two presidents, Congress, and the Supreme Court as corrupt.
- Voters define corruption broadly. Most voters say corruption covers a range of conduct, including officials using their position for personal gain (97 percent) and prioritizing the interests of billionaires and big corporations over those of the public (94 percent), waste of taxpayer dollars (90 percent), and officials who are unresponsive to their constituents (76 percent).
- Voters identify several causes of corruption in elected officials. Voters point to a lack of consequences for corrupt behavior (79 percent), officials prioritizing personal financial gain (79 percent), and campaign contributions from billionaires (64 percent) and big corporations (62 percent) as top causes of corruption.
- Voters blame corruption for kitchen-table issues going unaddressed.Overwhelming majorities believe corruption is responsible for big problems that government has failed to solve (88 percent) and for dysfunctional public services (83 percent)
- Voters want significant reforms. Major anticorruption policy proposals command widespread support across self-identified partisanship, including a constitutional amendment to restore limits on money in elections (79 percent), mandatory disclosure for all federal campaign contributions and spending (85 percent), the creation of a new federal ethics enforcer (81 percent), and a constitutional amendment limiting the president’s pardon power (69 percent).
Voters see corruption as endemic to U.S. government. When asked whether corruption is driven by individual choices or is instead an embedded structural problem, nearly two-thirds of voters said the latter. More than half of respondents (55 percent) say the process of running for office and serving in government makes officials corrupt, compared with 45 percent who say people who run for or serve in office tend to be corrupt.
Voters across the political spectrum most often say corruption is caused by a lack of consequences for corrupt behavior (79 percent) and elected officials prioritizing personal gain (79 percent). Not far behind, and again with large bipartisan majorities, were campaign contributions from big corporations and billionaires, with 62 and 64 percent.
An overwhelming majority of voters across party lines support campaign finance reforms. These include legislation to end “dark money,” or funds from groups that do not disclose their donors (85 percent overall, with 88 percent support among Democrats, 84 percent among independents, and 85 percent support among Republicans) and a constitutional amendment to overturn Supreme Court rulings that have struck down limits on money in elections (79 percent overall, including 84 percent support among Democrats, 81 percent support among independents, and 75 percent support among Republicans).
Supermajorities in regions across the country support amending the Constitution to restore campaign finance limits, with backing from more than three-quarters of voters in the West (82 percent), South (78 percent), Northeast (81 percent), and Midwest (76 percent). The same is true across the urban (81 percent), suburban (79 percent), and rural (76 percent) divide.
Voters also support major reforms to curb self-dealing at the highest levels of government. Voters of all political affiliations, for example, are aligned in wanting to strengthen federal ethics laws for all three branches of the federal government. That includes banning presidential conflicts of interest (83 percent), requiring the Supreme Court to adopt a binding code of ethics (84 percent), banning congressional stock trading (81 percent), creating a new federal agency to enforce anticorruption laws (81 percent), and passing a constitutional amendment to limit the president’s unilateral power to issue pardons (69 percent).
The Brennan Center’s survey, where most of the statistics I included, shows that the public believes corruption is serious and exists in all corners of government.
It also offers some hope: Americans across party lines overwhelmingly support solutions that address the role of concentrated wealth in politics and unchecked self-enrichment by those in power in order to restore the government’s ability to serve the public and confidence in government.
Seems to me that regardless of political affiliation, age, gender, and geographic location, folks actually agree on this one thing.
Political reform is badly needed.
It has to start by changing how money is able to be utilized in the election process. It has to include rules related to how elected officials are allowed to invest while in office. It has to included major limitations in what candidates can accept from ALL sources as campaign “contributions”. It has to include major limitations as to what elected officials are allowed to accept from ALL sources once in office.
Unfortunately, voting for politicians that don’t support the necessary changes to eliminate corruption in government, will not move the needle.
Vote for candidates that actively support election finance reform and investment limitations by elected officials, and by authoring or signing on to those types of legislation.
Elected officials were not put there to get even richer than when they arrived.
