民众对美国政治持悲观态度。皮尤研究中心2018年4月26日公布的一项针对美国民主和政治体制的调查显示，53%的受访者认为美国没有做到“尊重所有人的权利和自由”。《新闻周刊》网站6月26日报道，民意调查显示，55%的受访者认为目前美国的民主“很薄弱”，68%的受访者认为美国的民主正在“变得越来越弱”。
The public had pessimistic attitudes towards U.S. politics. A Pew Research Center survey on American democracy and the political system released on April 26 2018, showed 53 percent of the surveyed said the United States did not respect "the rights and freedoms of all people." The Newsweek reported on June 26, 2018 that a poll showed 55 percent of Americans said democracy in the United States was "weak" currently, and 68 percent said they believed democracy in the United States was "getting weaker."
三、贫富分化日益严重
III. Income Inequality Continued to Rise
美国贫困率维持高位，贫富差距持续扩大，近半家庭生活拮据，低收入者缺乏医疗保险，无家可归者人数居高不下。
Poverty rate in the United States remained high. Income inequality continued to rise. Almost half of American households lived under financial strain. Low-income populations lacked health insurance. The number of homeless people stayed high.
沦为贫富分化最严重的西方国家。美国人口普查的数据显示，2017年美国有约4200万贫困人口，约占总人口的13.4%。超过500万全年从事全职工作的美国人年收入低于贫困线。布鲁金斯学会发布的报告显示，残疾人通常更难找到稳定的工作，也更难挣到高于贫困线的工资。残疾人的贫困率为25.7%。（注15）
The United States had the highest rate of income inequality among Western countries. The U.S. Census estimated that 13.4 percent of Americans, about 42 million, lived below the poverty line in 2017. More than 5 million Americans who work full-time jobs year-round earned less than the poverty line. According to a report by the Brookings Institution, the disabled generally had a harder time finding steady work and earning above-poverty wages. About 25.7 percent of the disabled lived in poverty (, October 10, 2018 and November 19, 2018).
联合国极端贫困与人权问题特别报告员菲利普·奥尔斯顿2018年5月发布报告指出，美国已经沦为贫富分化最严重的西方国家，1850万美国人生活在极端贫困中，青年贫困率居经合组织成员国之首。2016年，1%的最富有人群拥有全国38.6%的财富，而普通民众的财富总量和收入水平在过去25年总体呈下降趋势。奥尔斯顿进一步指出，美国政府近年来推行系列刺激经济增长措施，但发展成果仅惠及富人，普通民众并未获益。“美国政府以牺牲社会福利为代价，对大公司和富有阶层实施前所未有的大规模减税计划，该策略似乎是为扩大不平等而量身定制。”（注16）
In May 2018 Philip G. Alston, the United Nation's special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, published a report saying the United States had the highest rate of income inequality among Western countries. According to the report, 18.5 million Americans lived in extreme poverty. The country had the highest youth poverty rate in countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). In 2016, the top one percent of the richest population in the United States owned 38.6 percent of total wealth. In relation to both wealth and income the share of the common people had fallen in most of the past 25 years. Alston further pointed out that the U.S. government's series of economic stimulus measures in recent years only benefited the rich, not the common people. "The U.S. government's policies provide unprecedentedly high tax breaks to the very wealthy and the largest corporations and pay for these partly by reducing welfare benefits for the poor. The tax reform will worsen inequality."(, June 25, 2018)
近半美国家庭生活拮据。2018年7月17日，美国参议员伯尼·桑德斯在《今日美国报》网站发表署名文章指出，43%的美国家庭入不敷出，只能借债支付住房、食品、儿童护理、医疗、交通和通讯费用。美国城市研究所调查发现，近40%的青壮年表示收入难以满足食品、卫生保健、住房和公用事业等基本需求。（注17）
Almost half of American households lived in financial difficulties. On July 17, 2018, U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders wrote in an article published on the USA Today website, saying 43 percent of U.S. households lived paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to pay for their housing, food, child care, health care, transportation and their cell phone without going into debt. The Urban Institute's survey found that nearly 40 percent of non-elderly adults reported difficulty meeting basic needs such as food, health care, housing, and utilities (, July 17, 2018 and October 1, 2018).
低收入病患缺乏医疗保险。联合国极端贫困与人权问题特别报告员菲利普·奥尔斯顿2018年5月发布报告指出，美国社会保障制度存在缺陷，四分之一全职工作者和四分之三兼职工作者没有带薪病假，44%的成年人无力支付或需要变卖财产和借债才能支付急救医疗费用。（注18）盖洛普咨询公司2018年11月进行的年度调查显示，46%的受访者担心没有足够的钱来支付医疗费用。（注19）城市研究所的分析显示，得克萨斯州65岁以下居民中高达19%没有保险，人数多达470万。（注20）
