This is the fifth installment of PolicyLink’s annual democracy survey, based on a national online poll of 1,000 eligible voters fielded by Lake Research Partners from October 9–19, 2025. It finds a widening partisan split in perceived ability to effect change: belief that ordinary citizens can drive change rose sharply among Republicans while falling among Democrats and independents, and most segments now report feeling more responsibility to create change than confidence they actually have the power to do so.