Young Americans have a broadly negative outlook on both political parties although young Democrats are significantly more critical of their own side than Republicans, according to the 51st edition of the Harvard Youth Poll released Thursday.
When respondents were asked to describe both parties in one word, 58% used a negative word for Democrats — with “weak” being the most common one, according to the newly released poll. Meanwhile, 56% of young Americans surveyed used a negative word for Republicans, with “corrupt” being the most common word, the poll found.
Almost 48% of young Democrats described their own party negatively, compared to just 35% who described it in a positive light, the survey shows. By comparison, just one-in-four young Republicans used a negative word to describe the GOP, while nearly half — 46% — of them used a positive word to describe it, per the poll.
Just 16% of all poll respondents listed a positive word for Democrats, while 26% gave a neutral word. Moreover, only 17% of young Americans surveyed offered a positive word for Republicans, while 27% gave a neutral word, according to the survey.
Of those surveyed, 40% gave negative descriptions for each party, the poll found.
Rahm Emanuel, an ex-Obama White House chief of staff, publicly criticized the Democratic Party as having a “weak and woke” image in May. Similarly, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is rumored to be a prospective 2028 White House candidate, suggested in late August that Democrats are grappling with a “weakness” problem.
In July, Democratic strategist James Carville wrote in a New York Times opinion piece that he has recently heard fellow Democrats refer to their own party as a “cracked-out clown car.” Research from the Speaking with American Men project released in June showed that many young men see the Democratic Party as “weak” while viewing Republicans as “strong.”
House Speaker Mike Johnson claimed in early November that “the truth is, the Democrats have lost touch with working Americans because they’ve simply stopped listening and stopped serving them.”
However, Democrats secured several key electoral wins on Nov. 4, including in New York City, New Jersey and Virginia. Republicans are reportedly grappling with how best to develop strong messaging on affordability ahead of 2026 midterm elections.
The Harvard Youth Poll surveyed 2,040 18-to-29-year-olds, and was organized with undergraduate students from the Harvard Public Opinion Project (HPOP) and supervised by John Della Volpe, Director of Polling. Data was collected by Ipsos Public Affairs using the KnowledgePanel. The interviews were conducted in English and Spanish from Nov. 3-7.
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