Glass half full for most Americans

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Americans are optimistic, "very satisfied with life" and have confidence in their public institutions, especially the U.S. armed forces and law-enforcement agencies, two new polls show.

Fifty-six percent of Americans say their personal situation has improved over the last five years, up seven points since last year, and 68 percent expect their personal situation to improve over the next five years, up five points from 2003, a Harris poll released yesterday found.

"These changes since last year almost certainly reflect improvements in the economy and are probably good news for President Bush," the poll stated. "The better people feel about their personal situation, the more likely they are to vote for an incumbent."

The number of people who feel their lives have worsened in the last five years declined to 16 percent, five percentage points lower than last year.

Meanwhile, the nation's confidence in its public institutions is on the rise, according to a Gallup poll released yesterday.

Americans trust their military the most, with 75 percent saying they have a "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the armed forces. The figure is more or less on par with previous years, despite the Iraqi prisoner-abuse problem.

Last year, the confidence level in the military was 82 percent. In 2002, it was 79 percent.

American law enforcement has also won the public's trust, with 64 percent saying they had "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence in the police. It is the highest rating for law enforcement in more than a decade, and up from 61 percent last year and 59 percent in 2002.

According to the Harris poll of 979 adults taken between April 8 and 15, men are slightly happier than women.

Overall, 60 percent of American males report being "very satisfied with life." Fifty-nine percent of women agree. Another 55 percent of men say their lives have improved in the last five years and 71 percent expect them to improve in the future. Among women, those figures were 57 percent and 65 percent, respectively.