Americans list ‘government’ as country’s top problem

Americans rank the government as the number one problem facing the country today, according to a Gallup poll published last month.

The survey found that 21% of American voters see the government as the biggest problem facing the country, up from 15% as of late last year. The number consists of 24% of Republicans and 18% of Democrats.

Approval ratings for Biden (41%) and Congress (21%), however, remain the same.

Last year, inflation and economy took over the two top spots at 16% each. Inflation is now second to government and followed by immigration.

Ill will towards the federal government has become a growing theme throughout several polls published over the past year.

According to a New York Times/Siena poll in October, most Americans believe the government serves elites, not the people. 

Of the 792 registered voters surveyed between October 9-12, 68% said “the government mainly works to benefit powerful elites,” while 22% said it “mainly works to benefit ordinary people.” 

71% of Americans said democracy is facing a threat, one which respondents felt could best be summarized by “The government” or “government corruption” or “non-specific politicians/leaders.” 

Most Americans (66%), in fact, said the federal government is a threat to democracy, evenly split between those who said it is a “major threat” and those who said it is a “minor threat.” 

In August, a national survey found that nearly 8 in 10 Americans believe the United States has a two-tiered justice system, with politicians and members of the D.C. elite treated differently than ordinary Americans. 

Also in August, a Rasmussen report revealed that 53% of American voters agree with former adviser to President Trump Roger Stone’s quote that there is “a group of politicized thugs at the top of the FBI who are using the FBI . . . as Joe Biden‘s personal Gestapo.” The number is up from 46% in December.   

The friction between the American people and the federal government becomes even more sober considering that over one quarter of Americans feel it might “soon be necessary to take up arms” against the federal government according to a University of Chicago poll.  

The poll of 1,000 Americans found that 28% of Americans, 37% of whom have guns in their homes, feel “it may be necessary at some point soon for citizens to take up arms against the government.”  

In addition, most Americans feel the government is “corrupt and rigged against everyday people like me,” including 73% of Republicans and 51% of Democrats.  “Overall, two-thirds of Republican and Independent voters agree that the government is ‘corrupt and rigged’ against them, while Democrats are evenly split,” revealed the survey.