# Civic life, news, and public trust

Canonical page: https://data.verasight.io/politics/how-adults-are-engaging-with-civic-life-and-news/
Published: 2026-05-05

> Featured topic in Politics.

About 71% had never donated to a political campaign and 90% had not participated in a demonstration in the last year, while 44% trusted network news not too much or not at all.

## Overview: Civic trust

Adults reported low direct political participation and limited network-news trust, but the attitudes underneath did not reduce to a single anti-politics position.

About 71% had never donated to a political campaign, and 90% had not participated in a demonstration in the last 12 months. Trust in network news was more mixed: 56% said they trusted it some or a lot, while 44% said not too much or not at all.

## Most adults had not donated to a campaign

Roughly 71% said they had never donated to a political campaign. About 26% said they had donated, and 3% were not sure.

That makes campaign donation a minority behavior rather than a broad form of political participation.

## Recent demonstration participation was rare

About 90% said they had not participated in a demonstration in the last 12 months. Roughly 9% said they had, and 1% preferred not to answer.

The participation measures point in the same direction: formal campaign donation and recent protest participation were both limited.

## Network news trust was limited, not absent

About 42% said they trust information from network news organizations some, and 14% said a lot. Another 24% said not too much, and 20% said not at all.

A related majority-rule statement also drew more disagreement than agreement. Roughly 45% disagreed at least somewhat that the majority should get what it wants no matter what the minority wants, while 30% agreed at least somewhat.

## Supporting evidence

### 90% had not participated in a demonstration in the last 12 months.

Question: Have you participated in a demonstration in the last 12 months?

Note: Adds recent demonstration participation.

Topline:

- No: 89.9%
- Yes: 8.8%
- Prefer not to answer: 1.2%

### 71% had never donated to a political campaign.

Question: Have you ever donated to a political campaign?

Note: Anchors the topic in political campaign donation participation.

Topline:

- No: 71.3%
- Yes: 26.0%
- Not sure: 2.7%

### 44% trusted network news not too much or not at all.

Question: How much, if at all, do you trust the information you get from network news organizations (e.g., ABC, CBS, NBC)?

Note: Adds trust in network news organizations.

Topline:

- Some: 42.0%
- Not too much: 24.1%
- Not at all: 20.2%
- A lot: 13.8%

## Methodology

- Mode: Verasight panel recruited via random address-based sampling, random person-to-person text messaging, and dynamic online targeting
- Population: United States adults who completed both waves of the survey
- Field dates: 2023-04-19 → 2023-04-27
- Base (unweighted): 1,000
- Margin of error: +/- 3.6%
- Module: MPSA 2023 Omnibus Survey #2023-032
- Sponsor: Verasight
- Weight variable: weight
- Weighting targets: age, race/ethnicity, sex, income, education, region, metropolitan status

## Sources

- [Have you ever donated to a political campaign?](https://verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co#q7-donation-to-a-political-campaign): verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co: Anchors the topic in political campaign donation participation.
- [Have you participated in a demonstration in the last 12 months?](https://verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co#q30-participated-in-demonstration-in-the-last-12-months): verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co: Adds recent demonstration participation.
- [How much, if at all, do you trust the information you get from network news organizations (e.g., ABC, CBS, NBC)?](https://verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co#q25-trust-information-from-network-news-organizations): verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co: Adds trust in network news organizations.
- [Please rate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statement: In politics, the majority should get what it wants — no matter what the minority wants.](https://verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co#q26-the-majority-should-get-what-it-wants): verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co: Adds a democracy-attitude context item.

## Citation

MPSA 2023 Omnibus Survey #2023-032, fielded April 19-27, 2023, N=1,000 United States adults who completed both waves of the survey, +/- 3.6%.

Canonical question URL: [https://verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co#q7-donation-to-a-political-campaign](https://verasight-mpsa-2023.tiiny.co#q7-donation-to-a-political-campaign)