Americans’ views of politics and elected officials are unrelentingly negative, with little hope of improvement on the horizon. 65% of Americans say they always or often feel exhausted when thinking about politics. By contrast, just 10% say they always or often feel hopeful about politics.
65% say most political candidates run for office “to serve their own personal interests.”
Americans express overwhelmingly favorable opinions of federal agencies like the Postal Service, the National Park Service, NASA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) despite historically low levels of public trust in the federal government.
When Americans are asked to make up the budget for the federal government, they have little appetite for austerity measures. Asked about 13 different government program areas, from veterans benefits to foreign aid, no more than about a quarter favor reducing spending in any specific area. The survey by Pew Research Center, conducted March 20-25 […]
Since 2015, opinions about the federal government’s handling of several major issues have become less positive and much more partisan.
The analysis in this report is based on telephone interviews conducted March 17-27, 2016 among a national sample of 2,254 adults, 18 years of age or older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia (566 respondents were interviewed on a landline telephone, and 1,688 were interviewed on a cell phone, including […]
Survey Report The public continues to express positive views of many agencies of the federal government, even though overall trust in government is near historic lows. Large majorities express favorable views of such government agencies as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), NASA and the Defense Department. In fact, favorable opinions surpass unfavorable […]
Public trust in the government, already quite low, has edged even lower in a survey conducted just before the Oct. 16 agreement to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling. Explore public attitudes towards the federal government over time and compare the data with other key national indicators, such as consumer sentiment, the […]
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