Rare Under 40 poll: Young people are unsure who’s responsible for government dysfunction, but these groups think they know

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Despite a recent uptick of pace that could indicate gridlock is dwindling, congressional job approval is still stuck near historical lows at only 19% — basically unchanged several months into the new Republican Congress and the same among members of both parties.

But who’s responsible? According to an exclusive Rare Under 40 poll, Americans are almost evenly split over which party is causing dysfunction in Washington.

About a third of young people are unsure, leaving 35 percent to point to Democrats and 33 percent saying Republicans. Americans over 40 are slightly more convinced who bears the blame, with 40 percent holding Republicans responsible.

>>Read about all of the findings of the Rare Under 40 poll

Millennials tend to disassociate with organized religion or politics, mostly choosing to identify as independents according to the Pew Research Center.

“It’s not that they don’t have strong political opinions, they do,” Paul Taylor, Pew’s executive director, told the Associated Press. “It’s simply that they choose not to identify themselves with either political party.”

Divisions along party lines are as to be expected — young Democrats blame Republicans, Republicans blame Democrats, and Independents are mostly unsure. The majority of young black Americans think Republicans are mostly responsible for federal dysfunction — 54 percent blame the GOP.

However, when it comes to the president, people under 40 prefer the past over the present. Comparing presidents Barack Obama to George W. Bush, more young people (49 percent) say Bush was a better president than Obama, more than the older generation (45 percent).

And the party line split is clear — Republicans support Bush and Democrats support Obama. A majority of Independents also preferred Bush’s presidency.

A recent WSJ/NBC poll found that more Americans feel comfortable with a presidential candidate who identifies as gay or lesbian than with one who identifies as an evangelical Christian. But even though Americans are more open to gay marriage or gay political candidates, the Rare Under 40 survey found the majority of Americans still think Christians hold more political power in the United States than gays.

Over the next several days, we'll explore 24 questions in-depth, taking a close look at the difference between age groups while also weighing key demographic differences such as political party, race and education. It's also an opportunity to revisit the previous Rare Under 40 poll, which found young people hold surprising views on Obama, marijuana, God and more.