American’s disapproval of the federal government has hit an all time high—with nearly two thirds saying it has become too big and powerful.
A new Gallup Poll released this week shows 65 percent are dissatisfied with government—up 5 points since last year and nearly double from where it was a decade ago.
Related: Top Problem for Americans Now—The U.S. Government
Attitudes toward government remain largely divided among political parties.
Indeed, while approval among Democrats has remained largely consistent over the last decade –hovering around 50 percent, attitudes toward government have changed the most among Republicans and Independents. During the George W. Bush administration, more than 70 percent of Republicans were satisfied with government, according to the poll, which notes that satisfaction began to dwindle during his final year. That number stands at 28 percent today.
"This may have reflected mounting public dissatisfaction with the Iraq war, coupled with the Democratic takeover of Congress after the 2006 midterm elections,” said Gallup’s Justin McCarthy.
During that same time period, satisfaction among Independents stood at 63 percent.
“Both groups' satisfaction plummeted still more between 2008 and 2011, and has since dipped further," McCarthy notes.
Related: Is Obama’s Government Too Big to Succeed?
The poll suggests one reason for the increase in dissatisfaction is the government’s size and power—66 percent are unhappy and say it’s gotten too big.
This is not welcome news for the Obama administration—which is consistently criticized by Republicans for excessive use of executive orders to bypass Congress.
The president is expected to announce several new executive orders during his State of the Union speech next week.
Of course, this is old news for the president who has long faced this problem. Indeed, as Gallup notes, nearly two thirds of Americans have expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s size consistently since Obama took office.
The findings come on the heels of another Gallup survey released last week that shows that Americans view the government, not the economy or the unemployment rate, as the biggest problem facing the country.
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