Americans still believe in democracy, but they increasingly don’t believe the system is functioning. Those two ideas are happening at the same time, and the tension between them is where the story really is.

Start with the headline number, from a brand-new Kettering Foundation-Gallup survey of more than 20,000 Americans, released this week: Two-thirds say democracy is the best form of government. That’s solid. That’s durable. That’s not the sign of a public ready to throw in the towel.

But then you get to the next number: Half of Americans say democracy in the United States is functioning poorly. Only one in four say it’s functioning well. That’s a long way from the 1980s and 1990s, when confidence was the default and disappointment was the outlier.

The frustration isn’t necessarily with neighbors or communities. Americans are not pointing fingers at each other, they’re pointing them upward – at institutions, at leaders, and at a system that feels increasingly out of touch. The poll showed that more than four in 10 Americans don’t believe our national leaders are committed to democratic principles. Another large chunk doesn’t know. Only one in four thinks government decisions reflect what a majority of people actually want.

If you’re looking for legitimacy trouble, that’s it. Right there.

The numbers around institutions are even bleaker. Congress, the criminal justice system, federalism, separation of powers — the major structural elements of American self-government — all scrape bottom. Only about two in ten Americans believe any of these components are working well. When basic constitutional machinery gets ratings like that, it’s not a blip; it’s a slow-moving legitimacy crisis hiding in plain sight.

And this discontent isn’t evenly distributed. People who are struggling economically are consistently more pessimistic. Older Americans, LGBT Americans, and those feeling left out of political or economic life are far more likely to say government does not reflect their interests or protect their rights. Democracy feels distant to them, and as we know, people act on how things feel at least as much as on how things function.

But the survey has one surprising bright spot, and it’s not a small one: Most Americans still trust elections. They trust election administrators. They do not jump straight to “fraud” when an outcome surprises them. Only about one in ten say voting laws make it hard for “people like them” to vote, though disparities still show up for Black Americans, younger voters, and lower-income households.

This is a rare piece of good news in an otherwise rough data set: The core ritual of democracy — casting a ballot — still holds public confidence.

Here in Nebraska, we see it up close. Students who campaign for Nebraska’s Kid Governor® treat voting as a normal part of civic life. Volunteers who give up their free time to make sure our elections are free and fair. Emerging leaders who come together to bridge divides and get back to the idea of America.

In other words, democratic trust doesn’t just evaporate because national leaders misbehave.

So what does all this mean as we head toward our 250th anniversary as a nation? It’s not breaking news. It’s that the gap between belief and experience is the space where civil society has to get to work. Civic groups, neighbors, local leaders, and everyday people are called to step in, not to replace government, but to reinforce what self-government looks like when it’s practiced up close. Or, in the words of Citizen University’s Eric Liu: The president is not the government, and the government is not the country.

This isn’t a call for optimism for its own sake. It’s a call to say it like it is: The belief is still there, but the confidence is not. Closing that gap won’t happen because someone in Washington declares a “Democracy Initiative.” It’ll happen because people keep showing up, keep practicing civic habits, and keep proving that self-government is something we do, not something we’re handed.