There’s a growing number of Americans who think violence might be necessary to get the country back on track Politics Oct 1, 2025 5:00 AM EDT

Nearly a third of Americans – 30% – say people may have to resort to violence in order to get the country back on track, according to the latest PBS News/NPR/Marist poll .

It’s a sharp rise from 18 months ago, when 19% of Americans said the same.

READ MORE: Are Democrats or Republicans to blame for the looming government shutdown? Here’s what our poll found

The belief that violence may be the answer has grown among Republicans and independents – up 3 and 7 percentage points, respectively, since April last year. But the largest increase has been among Democrats. Now 28% of Democrats share that view, up 16 points.

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