Who thinks people can affect what the government does about global warming?

The analysis finds that while overall confidence in the ability to affect federal climate policy increased slightly from 38% in 2018 to 43% in 2023, a significant gap has emerged between political parties. Higher collective efficacy is most prevalent among Hispanics/Latinos, Black/African Americans, Democrats, and Gen Z/Millennials. Additionally, hearing others discuss global warming is positively associated with higher collective political efficacy, with a more pronounced effect observed among Republicans than Democrats.

• Between December 2018 and October 2023, the percentage of Americans who felt at least "moderately confident" that they could influence federal government action on global warming rose from 38% to 43%.
• The increase in collective political efficacy was driven by Democrats and Independents, both of whom saw an 11 percentage point increase, while Republicans experienced a non-statistically significant decrease of 5 percentage points. Consequently, the efficacy gap between Democrats and Republicans grew from 16 percentage points in 2018 to 34 percentage points in 2023.
• As of October 2023, the groups most confident in their collective ability to affect federal government action (50% or more) include Hispanics/Latinos, Black/African Americans, Democrats, and Gen Z/Millennials. Conversely, Republicans, White Americans, Baby Boomers/Silent Generation, and males reported the lowest levels of efficacy, with fewer than 40% feeling moderately confident.
• Hearing others discuss global warming at least once a month is linked to higher collective political efficacy (54%) compared to those who hear it less often (39%). This relationship is more significant for Republicans, where the difference is 14 percentage points (35% vs 21%), compared to a 7 percentage point difference for Democrats (61% vs 54%).

APA

Badullovich, N., Hilado, M., Kotcher, J., Ballew, M., Thier, K., Rosenthal, S., Maibach, E., & Leiserowitz, A. (2024). Who thinks people can affect what the government does about global warming? Center for Climate Change Communication. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/who-thinks-people-can-affect-what-the-government-does-about-global-warming/

Chicago

Badullovich, N., M. Hilado, J. Kotcher, M. Ballew, K. Thier, S. Rosenthal, E. Maibach, and A. Leiserowitz. Who thinks people can affect what the government does about global warming? Center for Climate Change Communication, 2024. https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/who-thinks-people-can-affect-what-the-government-does-about-global-warming/.

Wikipedia

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BibTeX

@techreport{badullovich2024who, author = {Badullovich, N. and Hilado, M. and Kotcher, J. and Ballew, M. and Thier, K. and Rosenthal, S. and Maibach, E. and Leiserowitz, A.}, title = {{Who thinks people can affect what the government does about global warming?}}, institution = {Center for Climate Change Communication}, year = {2024}, month = jun, url = {https://climatecommunication.gmu.edu/all/who-thinks-people-can-affect-what-the-government-does-about-global-warming/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }