Who do Americans believe is responsible for creating meaningful change in our country?

Recent Barna data offer insight into who Americans look to in these times of tension and how many Americans trust pastors to help them navigate sensitive conversations.

Ahead of a midterm election, pastors may wonder how to best disciple and serve their community—especially when disagreement and division are prominent. These findings—plus even more on U.S. policy, polarization and beliefs about morality and legality—are explored in depth in Barna’s latest release, The Things that Divide Americans: An overview of social concerns, difficult conversations and the Church’s ability to address them, available exclusively on Barna Access Plus.

U.S. Adults Largely Point to the Government to Make Things Right When asked which institutions can help create meaningful change in a divided nation, Americans overwhelmingly believe the government (at the national, state and local levels) is responsible for curing the ills of the United States.

Half of Americans see the federal government as responsible for making things better—that’s twice the number that hold religious organizations or Christians churches responsible for making real change possible.