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The McCourtney Institute for Democracy

Mood of the Nation Poll

Mood of the Nation Poll

Our Mood of the Nation poll offers a unique approach to public opinion polling. It allows Americans to speak in their own words through open-ended questions that focus on emotions like anger and hope, as well as commitment to constitutional principles.

Traditional polling forces citizens to place themselves into set categories, even on issues in which they are uninformed and uninterested. 

The Mood of the Nation poll gives citizens a series of open-ended questions, allowing them to answer in their own words—saying what is on their minds, what is important to them, and thereby providing a unique window on contemporary American politics. 

Read more about how the poll was conducted and the team that makes it happen.

Latest Poll Reports

June 20, 2023

Our Mood of the Nation Poll finds that nearly all American adults think that the history of slavery should be taught in schools—but only half think that the on-going effects of that history should be part of the curriculum.

June 9, 2023

The McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s most recent Mood of the Nation Poll, conducted May 12-18, 2023, finds that a majority of American adults think teachers with same-sex spouses should be allowed to display pictures of their spouses on their desks, and that classroom discussions of lesbian, gay and bisexual people are acceptable in middle school.

But the survey also finds that Americans are split on whether teachers should use a teen’s preferred pronouns—and a majority oppose assigning books with lesbian, gay and bisexual characters to middle schoolers.

June 7, 2023

The McCourtney Institute for Democracy’s most recent Mood of the Nation Poll, conducted May 12-18, 2023, finds that a slight plurality of Americans favors religious-based work exemptions for government employees, “but only if the cost and inconvenience are minimal.