Half of Americans think US likely to cease to be democracy: poll

NEW YOR -- More than half of those surveyed, across the political spectrum - 55 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of Republicans - believe it is "likely" that the United States will "cease to be a democracy in the future," according to a new poll.

"The American people understand that their democracy and their society are in deep trouble. But they do not agree on who or what is the cause of the problem, and do not share a common understanding of basic facts," said US news and commentary portal Salon in its report on Thursday of the Yahoo News/YouGov poll.

"To make matters worse, there is a kind of sinister synergy between America's democracy crisis and other serious problems facing the country, which risks creating a state of collective paralysis," the report noted.

Among Republicans, 52 percent believe it is likely that "there will be a civil war in the United States in (their) lifetime." The proportion among Democrats is only slightly smaller, at 46 percent, while 50 percent of independents share that view, according to the poll.

While 50 percent of respondents were willing to rule out using violence or "taking up arms against the government" to protect the country from "radical extremists," 26 percent of those who participated said that political violence could sometimes be justified, it added.