New poll results about Americans’ trust in the government are in stark contrast to the level of trust found in a similar survey from 1964, when 77 percent of Americans said they trust the government most or all of the time.
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A PEW research poll suggests not many Americans trust the federal government. About half the respondents in each party said the federal government did a good job on roads and on ensuring access to high-quality education. While 72% of Democrats said they only seldom or never trust the government, 89% of the GOP now professes major distrust of the feds.
As you can see, this is very much the Reagan divide: while both sides of the political spectrum may distrust government, one side denies that government should have any role at all, while the other simply believes it is under performing. They are almost three times as likely to say they are “angry” with it, at 32% of Republicans and GOP leaners compared with 12% of Democrats and Democratic leaners.
The Pew research poll also indicates that the trust in government by Americans has dropped to its lowest level in the past 60 years.
GOP front-runner Donald Trump fares far better among Republicans who identify as angry than among those who do not. It still baffles me, as well as anyone following the primary season who’s truthful enough to admit it. There’s still, in the vast majority of articles and TV broadcasts about Trump’s success, the qualifier but of course it’s unlikely he’ll win the Republican nomination.
Yet, when asked specifically about a list of duties, most of the nation still wants the government to play a major role in everything from ensuring national defense to maintaining infrastructure. He is given to outlandish proposals and lacks the temperamental ballast and government experience that general election voters usually seek in a president. Just half of young Democrats say this. Economists Alan Blinder and Mark Watson found that in the last 64 years dating back to President Harry Truman, the GDP grew an average of 4.33 percent under Democratic presidents and just 2.54 percent under Republicans. They do want the federal government to manage immigration, not the states. Silver reminds us that most of the current surveys “cover Republican-leaning adults or registered voters, rather than likely voters…” Still, Democratic politicians have every interest in making a desire for a more equitable economy the driving force in the election.
Still, while people like Trump are an indicator of a growing perception that the federal government is dysfunctional, it’s clear the majority of Americans supporting either party are down on the prospect that the feds are coming to save the day anytime soon. And in recent years, many have also soured on the judgment of their fellow citizens.
ELVING: They do. They seem to like the idea of government services, even federal government services.
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While the white Christian group has shrunk as part of the American population, it has also become more likely to lean towards the country’s more conservative party. Two-thirds of Democrats (66%) say the government should do more to solve problems; 71% of Republicans say it is doing too many things better left to others.
