How Opportunity and Personal Agency Can Shape a Common Vision for America
June 10, 2025
American Identity
Social Connection
As our country approaches its 250th anniversary and undergoes rapid demographic and technological changes—from increasing racial diversity to the advent of AI—Americans are asking themselves what kind of country we want to build together.
Our report, which surveys over 60,000 individuals across four countries, offers an answer: a society where everyone has both the opportunity to build lives of purpose and prosperity, and a sense of responsibility to help their fellow citizens do the same. This vision may help transcend our country’s divisions and paint a more hopeful picture of the future.
Three quarters of Americans believe that “hard work and effort” played a larger role than “luck and circumstance” in getting them where they are today, and two in three believe “people are largely responsible for their own outcomes in life.” Meanwhile, two thirds (66 percent) of Democrats, three in four (76 percent) Black Americans, and almost nine in ten (86 percent) US immigrants say “hard work” played a greater role than “luck and circumstance” in getting them where they are today.
Americans of all parties—including 93 percent of Democrats—believe that the individual is a “somewhat” or “very” important contributor to success, followed closely by family and community. About two thirds (65 percent) of Democrats and slightly less than half (44 percent) of Republicans say the government is at least “somewhat” important in ensuring success. Yet more than four in five Republicans (82 percent) say the government is at least “a little” important to ensuring success.
Average beliefs in agency are as high in Europe as they are in the U.S. What sets America apart, by contrast, is the politicization of these beliefs: agency beliefs are more strongly correlated with other political opinions in America than in other countries, and there is a wider gap between left- and right-leaning people in America than in other countries.
Americans are most likely to say that success depends both on people’s hard work and self-determination and good systems and policies. Similarly, Americans are more likely to say they want to live in a country where people strive to be the best version of themselves, and where the government ensures everyone has the opportunity to do so.
Four in five (80 percent) agree that people have a responsibility to improve themselves and give back to their country and community.
This report relies on data obtained from thirteen large-scale surveys collected by More in Common between 2017 and 2025 involving over 60,000 individuals. Surveys were collected in collaboration with data vendors YouGov and Dynata, as well as several in-depth focus groups and one-on-one interviews. For more information, see Appendix C: Methods and Data.
Media inquires and further questions about the report should be directed to usmedia@moreincommon.com.
The report relied on three questions:
The reason why agency resonates so strongly with Americans lies in the unique conditions of this country’s founding and the complex evolution of its national identity. America was built on ideals of optimism and self-reliance — values closely tied to agency. But from the beginning, these ideals stood in contrast to laws and practices that prevented some people from exercising that agency. American history may be understood in part as a struggle to reconcile this contradiction: the nation’s deep belief in personal determination and progress, alongside historical practices that offered agency to some and denied it to others. Seen this way, it becomes easier to grasp how agency can simultaneously unite and divide as both a source of conflict and a shared aspiration in the American psyche. For more information on the history of agency in American politics, see Appendix B in the full report.
01 October 2018
Hidden Tribes surveyed Americans’ underlying core beliefs and attitudes to identify the “Exhausted Majority.” Defined in part as the two thirds of Americans tired of our polarization, the “Exhausted Majority” is regularly used by mainstream media and leaders from across the political spectrum.
Explore the depth of our research at your fingertips. Get the complete insights by downloading the full report today.
What unites and divides Americans today? This newsletter takes a closer look at issues pressing on America’s social and political fabric and provides recommendations for how to strengthen ties to keep us bound together.
