New Report from Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs Reveals the State of Maine’s Civic Health

Survey of 1,000 residents and census data analysis reveals how Mainers feel about a wide range of issues, including trust in government, presidential vote counting, and the future of Maine

Despite growing polarization and disengagement in U.S. politics, the state of civic health in Maine is generally strong, according to a report from Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs, Public Engagement Partners, and the Maine Community Foundation.

“This study and the resulting report is the first time we’ve done a deep dive in terms of evaluating the quality of civic life in our state,” said Nicholas Jacobs, assistant professor government at Colby College and faculty associate director for the Goldfarb Center. “It provides important information about indicators that assess that state of healthy civic life and democracy in Maine and highlights our unique strengths and weaknesses.”

The new study, which analyzed census data and also draws on a recent original survey of more than 1,000 Maine residents, gauges the state’s civic health in eight areas: trust in government and each other; feelings of belonging and mattering; perceptions of community climate; the state of civic knowledge; voting; volunteering; civic awareness and participation, and, finally, hope for the future.

“Overall, Maine exhibits considerable civic strengths. Its citizens vote at levels significantly above the national average, the state ranks first in the nation for public meeting attendance, residents feel safe where they live, and six in 10 believe that ‘while people might not always have the same opinion, we are still able to find common ground,’” commented Quixada Moore-Vissing, director of Public Engagement Partners. “However, there are some red flags for Maine, including the fact that most Mainers feel youth will have to move away for opportunities, trust in both state and national government is low, and many Mainers do not feel they matter to their local community. And, while most Mainers have confidence that their vote in the upcoming election will be fairly counted, over one-third have concerns.”

Major Findings

Hope for the future: While a healthy 70 percent of Mainers are hopeful about the state’s future, most Mainers are pessimistic about the future of Maine’s children, with majorities believing that they will have to leave home in order to find economic opportunity and security and that they are unlikely to have a better life than their parents. Additionally, Mainers are pessimistic about the future of the nation and of democracy itself.

Trust in government: Mainers’ trust in government diminishes as attention shifts from the local level (trust in government to “almost always or mostly” to “do what is right” is at 51 percent) to the state level (trust drops to 37 percent) to the national level of government (trust nosedives to 17 percent). Trust in other people is fairly consistent between the local (59 percent) and state (55 percent) levels, then drops to 30 percent for Americans nationwide.

New arrivals: While Mainers are ambivalent about the influx of new people coming to their state, most feel either positive (53 percent) or neutral (34 percent) about more racially and culturally diverse people coming to their communities. Additionally, a majority of Mainers (six out of 10) from all demographic backgrounds feel that finding common ground for solutions to today’s problems remains achievable, despite our differences.

Voting: Maine is a national leader in terms of participation in national or local elections. However, about 30 percent to 40 percent of Mainers are not participating in most elections; citizens have mixed feelings on the benefits of ranked-choice voting, and about a third of Mainers lack confidence that the 2024 presidential election will be properly counted, albeit a strong majority believe there won’t be any problems.

Civic participation and awareness: Relative to other states, Mainers exhibit numerous strengths on these themes, ranking first in the nation in public meeting attendance, fourth in interacting with public officials, sixth in discussing important issues with friends, family, and neighbors, and 10th in paying attention to the news.

The state of civic knowledge: Six in 10 residents feel they know whom to reach out to regarding issues and ideas for their community, and almost as many (56 percent) feel they have that same knowledge in relation to the state as a whole. At the same time, less than half of Mainers know at least one member of their local select/city board.

“The Maine Community Foundation was proud to be the primary sponsor of this important research into Maine’s civic health,” said the foundation’s CEO Deborah Ellwood. “Our own recent statewide Needs Assessment showed strong civic health as an essential prerequisite for our ability to work together to address challenges such as climate resilience, affordable housing, and economic opportunity. Congratulations to Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs for an important contribution to Maine.”

Data for this report on the state of civic health in Maine come from two sources. First, rates of national and statewide volunteering, participation, and voting come from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. Data on civic trust, belonging and mattering, community climate, civic knowledge, obstacles to participation, trust in elections/voting, and civic participation come from a supplemental survey designed by Nicholas Jacobs, assistant professor of government at Colby College, and Quixada Moore-Vissing of Public Engagement Partners. Fielded by Jacobs in April 2024, it was an online, nonprobability, opt-in survey of 1,036 adults who report living in Maine.

The full report, which was released Oct. 23, 2024, via a virtual event hosted by Colby College’s Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs, can be accessed here.

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