Domenico Montanaro

while those without degrees are split 50-50.

What's more, 6 in 10 say the country is worse off than a year ago, and most describe the direction that Trump is moving the country as change for the worse.

That presents a political challenge for Trump's State of the Union address in this midterm election year.

Domenico Montanaro, NPR News, Washington.

Roughly two-thirds of the more than 1,400 respondents polled say the system of checks and balances in the country just isn't working.

That comes as President Trump has spent the better part of his first year in office trying to consolidate power.

An even higher 78% say they see a serious threat to democracy.

That includes 9 in 10 Democrats, 8 in 10 Independents, and even 61% of Republicans.

Of course, what they see as those threats in many cases is very different.

Other polling has found that Democrats and independents are concerned about the backsliding of liberal democracy in the country, while many Republicans believe voting systems are not as strong as they should be.

That's an idea that President Trump has pushed to explain away his 2020 presidential election loss, despite evidence to the contrary.

Domenico Montanaro, NPR News, Washington.

Fifty-seven percent of the more than 1,400 people that Marist surveyed say the state of the union is not strong.

That's a four-point increase from a year ago and includes eight in ten Democrats and two-thirds of independents.

Republicans largely take the opposite view.

With Trump in office, 73 percent of Republicans say the state of the union is strong.

The splits by education and gender are also notable.

Sixty-nine percent of college degree holders say the state of the union is weak.

while those without degrees are split 50-50.

What's more, 6 in 10 say the country is worse off than a year ago, and most describe the direction that Trump is moving the country as change for the worse.