American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

Are Attitudes Changing About The Proper

Role of the Federal Government?
In June of 2008, AEI released a Public Opinion Study on Attitudes Toward Government. The
subject has received significant attention in recent months as government’s involvement in the
economy has grown. How are Americans reacting to that new involvement? Fortunately, many
pollsters have updated trend questions on the subject recently. We excerpt here a small section
of the larger Public Opinion Study to examine attitudes about government, and we also look
separately at questions about the government’s role in the provision of health care.

Today, in most polls, Americans say the government is doing too much. A late August-early
September 2009 Gallup poll, for example, shows that 57 percent felt the government is trying to
do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Thirty-eight percent said
government should be doing “more to solve our country’s problems.” A June 2009 CBS/New
York Times poll produced similar results. The NBC/Wall Street Journal poll that asks whether
“government should do more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people,” produces a
closer division of opinion. Forty-six percent in October wanted government to do more, while
48 percent said government was doing too many things better left to businesses and individuals.
In the 2009 network consortium exit poll conducted in Virginia, voters said government was
doing too much; in New Jersey, voters opted for more government by a narrow margin.

Questions that ask Americans whether they would like a smaller government with fewer services
or a larger government with more services usually produce a preference for smaller government.
In a late September-early October 2009 Pew question, Americans expressed a preference for
smaller over larger government, by 51 to 40 percent. Fox News and Opinion Dynamics ask
whether respondents would like a larger government with more taxes or a small government with
fewer taxes. Fifty-five percent in March preferred a smaller government with lower taxes, while
35 percent favored higher taxes to support a larger government.

But when abstractions about government in general become concrete questions about individual
programs, Americans don’t want to cut funding for most programs. Since 1972, the National
Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago has asked about specific programs. The
2008 results are included here.

As for health care, we begin with a question asked in 1938 when 81 percent said the federal
government should be responsible for providing health care for people unable to pay for it.
Eighty percent gave that response when Gallup repeated it in 1991. In 2009, 47 percent in a
different Gallup question answered that it was the “responsibility of the federal government to
make sure all Americans have health care coverage.” This is the lowest response since Gallup
first asked the question in 2000. The Fox News/Opinion Dynamics and CBS News/New York
Times polls also show a decline.

The 1938 and 1991 questions reveal a compassionate public. The consistently lower responses
on the question Gallup introduced in 2000 may arise because it taps Americans’ sense of
individual responsibility. Another explanation for the results from recent polls may come from
the counterintuitive finding, evident in many polls, that Americans want government to do less
when times are difficult. When they and their families are doing well, they are more generous
about what they want government to do. Still another explanation for the downward trend may
be that the level of recent government involvement in the economy has concerned people.

Is Government Doing too Many Things?

QUESTION: Some people think the government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses.
Others think that government should do more to solve our country’s problems. Which comes closer to your own view?

Govt. doing Govt. should Govt. doing Govt. should

too much that do more too much that do more
should be left to solve should be left to solve
to individuals country’s to individuals country’s
and business problems and business problems
Jan. 1985 ABC/WP 57% 38% Apr. 1998 Gallup 59% 33%
Feb. 1986 ABC/WP 55 42 Oct. 1998 Gallup 50 38
Jan. 1987 ABC/WP 49 47 Sep. 1999 Gallup 55 39
Jun. 1988 WP 48 49 Aug. 2000 Gallup 54 38
Sep. 1990 ABC/WP 52 45 Sep. 2000 Gallup 50 37
Jun. 1992 Gallup 39 52 Sep. 2001 Gallup 55 36
Jun. 1992 ABC/WP 47 49 Oct. 2001 Gallup 41 50
Aug. 1992 Gallup 50 43 Sep. 2002 Gallup 50 43
Sep. 1992 Gallup 51 43 Oct. 2002 Gallup 44 48
Oct. 1992 Gallup 48 44 Sep. 2003 Gallup 51 43
Mar. 1993 Gallup 45 49 Oct. 2003 Gallup 52 40
Apr. 1993 Gallup 49 45 Nov. 2004 Gallup 55 36
Jun. 1993 Yankelovich 52 42 Sep. 2005 Gallup 50 44
Dec. 1993 Gallup 55 38 Sep. 2006 Gallup 47 44
Jan. 1994 Gallup 54 39 Oct. 2006 Gallup 46 44
Oct. 1994 Gallup 57 37 May-Jun. 2007 WP/Kaiser 48 45
Nov. 1994 Gallup 55 37 Sep. 2007 Gallup 49 43
Nov. 1995* Yankelovich 50 42 Jun. 2008 Gallup 50 43
Dec. 1995 Gallup 60 32 Sep. 2008 Gallup 53 41
Jan. 1996 Gallup 58 35 Dec. 2008 CNN/ORC 52 45
Feb. 1996 Yankelovich 70 26 Mar. 2009 Gallup 47 42
Sep. 1996* NBC/WSJ 58 34 Aug-Sept 2009 Gallup 57 38
Feb. 1997 Gallup 58 33

NOTE: Question wording varied slightly. *Registered voters.

QUESTION: I’m going to read you two statements about the role of government, and I’d like to know which one comes closer to
your point of view. Government should do more to solve problems and help meet the needs of people, OR Government is doing
too many things better left to businesses and individuals.

Govt. is doing Govt. is doing

Govt. should too many things Govt. should too many things
do more to solve better left to do more to solve better left to
problems and businesses and problems and businesses and
help people Individuals help people individuals
Dec. 1995 NBC/WSJ 32% 62% Jan. 2002 NBC/WSJ 45 43
Dec. 1997 NBC/WSJ 41% 51% Mar. 2007 NBC/WSJ 52 40
Sep. 2007 NBC/WSJ 55 38 Feb.-Mar. 2009 NBC/WSJ 51 40
Jul. 2008 NBC/WSJ 53 42 Apr. 2009 NBC/WSJ 47 46
Sep. 2008 NBC/WSJ 48 42 Sept. 2009 NBC/WSJ 45 49
Oct. 2008 NBC/WSJ 47 45 Oct. 2009 NBC/WSJ 46 48

QUESTION: Which comes closer to your view: “Government should do more to solve national problems” or “Government is doing
too many things better left to businesses and individuals?”

Govt. doing Govt. should Govt. doing Govt. should

too many things do more too many things do more
better left to to solve better left to to solve
business and national business and national
individuals problems individuals problems
Nov. 1994 CBS/NYT 63% 30% Sep. 1996 CBS/NYT 62 28
Nov. 1994 CBS 59 31 Oct. 1996 CBS/NYT 62 29
Jan. 1995 CBS 63 31 Oct. 1996 CBS 57 34
Jan. 1995 CBS 62 32 Feb. 1997 CBS 58 34
Aug. 1995 CBS/NYT 66% 24% Oct. 1998 CBS 54 38
Oct. 1995 CBS/NYT 64 27 Jul. 2000 CBS/NYT 54 36
Feb. 1996 CBS/NYT 60 32 Aug. 2001 Hart/CEG 43 51
Apr. 1996 CBS/NYT 59 34 Nov. 2002+ CBS 55 36
Jun. 1996 CBS/NYT 57 36 Mar. 2007 CBS/NYT 52 41
Aug. 1996 CBS/NYT 58 36 Mar. 2009 CBS/NYT 41 51
Aug. 1996 CBS 60 32 June 2009 CBS/NYT 56 34

NOTE: +Likely voters.

QUESTION: Would you rather have . . . ?

--------Voters--------
Govt. provide more Govt. cost less
services but cost in taxes but provide
Exit Polls: more in taxes fewer services
Nov. 1992 VNS 36% 55%

QUESTION: Which comes closer to your view . . . ?

-------Voters, off year elections--------
Govt. is doing too
Govt. should do more many things better left to
Exit Polls: to solve national problems individuals and business
Nov. 1994 VNS 42% 59%
Nov. 2002 VNS 47 53
Nov. 2009 (Virginia) NEP 43 52
Nov. 2009 (New Jersey) NEP 49 47

QUESTION: Which comes closer to your view . . .?

-------Voters, presidential elections --------
Govt. is doing too many
Govt. should do things better left to
Exit Polls: more to solve problems individuals and business
Nov. 1996 VNS 44% 56%
Nov. 2000 VNS 43 52
Nov. 2004 NEP 46 49
Nov. 2008 NEP 51 43
Smaller Versus Larger Government
QUESTION: In general, government grows bigger as it provides more services. If you had to choose, would you rather have a
smaller government providing less services or a bigger government providing more services?

Smaller govt Bigger govt Smaller govt Bigger govt

less more fewer more
services services services services
Apr. 1976 CBS/NYT 40% 44% Mar. 1980 CBS/NYT 54% 32%
May 1976 CBS/NYT 41 43 May 1988 CBS/NYT 43 44
Jun. 1976 CBS/NYT 43 42 Oct. 1988 CBS/NYT 45 38
Sep. 1976 CBS/NYT 48 38 Jan. 1989 CBS/NYT 41 48
Oct. 1976 CBS/NYT 49 37 Nov. 2000 Kaiser/Harvard 42 47
Nov. 1976 CBS/NYT 42 45 Aug. 2002 Kaiser/Harvard 46 47
Jun. 1978 CBS/NYT 53 36 Mar. 2009 PSRA/Newsweek 44 44
Jan. 1978 Wash Post 40 39

QUESTION: If you had to choose, would you rather have a smaller government providing fewer services, or a bigger government
providing more services?

Smaller govt Bigger govt Smaller govt Bigger govt

less more less more
services services services services
Oct. 1991 CBS/NYT 42% 43% Nov. 2003 CBS/NYT 45% 42%
Feb. 1996 CBS/NYT 61 30 Dec. 2006-
Sep. 1999 CBS 46 43 Jan. 2007 Pew 45 43
Oct. 2000 CBS 57 32 Nov. 2007 Pew 47 42
Nov. 2000 CBS/NYT 55 32 Mar-Apr. 2008 CBS/NYT 43 43
Jan. 2001 CBS 51 36 Oct. 2008 Pew 42 43
Oct. 2001 CBS/NYT 48 39 Mar. 2009 Pew 48 40
Jan. 2002 CBS/NYT 46 40 Apr. 2009 CBS/NYT 48 41
Jul. 2003 CBS/NYT 48 40 Sept/Oct 2009 Pew 51 40

QUESTION: Generally speaking, would you say you favor smaller government with fewer services, or larger government with
more services?
Smaller govt Bigger govt Smaller govt Bigger govt
less more less more
services services services services
Jul. 1992 ABC/WP 55% 38% Jul. 2002 ABC/WP 53% 42%
Aug. 1996 ABC/WP 63 32 Sep. 2002 WP 54 39
Apr. 2000 ABC/WP 56 38 June 2004 ABC/WP 50 46
Jul. 2000 ABC/WP 59 34 Nov. 2007 ABC/WP 50 44
Oct. 2000* ABC/WP 58 32 Jun. 2008 ABC/WP 50 45
Oct. 2000 ABC/WP 58 33 Jan. 2009 ABC/WP 53 43
Jan. 2002 ABC/WP 54 41 June 2009 ABC/WP 54 41

NOTE:*Registered voters

QUESTION: Would you say you favor smaller government with fewer services, or larger government with many services?

Smaller govt Bigger govt Smaller govt Bigger govt

less more less more
services services services services
Jul. 1988 ABC/WP 49% 45% Mar. 2001 LAT 59% 29%
Jun. 1993 LAT 60 29 Nov. 2001 LAT 48 41
Jan. 1995 LAT 63 27 Jan. 2005 LAT 52 36
Sep. 1995 LAT 62 27 Jan. 2006 LAT/Bloomberg 49 38
Oct. 1995 LAT 68 23 Aug. 2007 Zogby 57 31
Apr. 1996 LAT 62 28
QUESTION: Which of the following statements do you agree with more…I’d rather pay higher taxes to support a larger
government that provides more services, or I’d rather pay lower taxes and have a smaller government that provides fewer
services?
I’d rather pay I’d rather pay
higher taxes/ lower taxes/
larger govt smaller govt
Jun. 1997 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics 31% 58%
Apr. 1998 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics 30 58
Oct. 2000 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics 32 52
May 2003 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics 34 50
Jan. 2004 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics 38 45
Jan. 2006 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics 34 52
Mar. 2009 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics 35 55

QUESTION: Considering all government services on the one hand and taxes on the other, which of the following statements,
comes closest to your view?
Keep taxes and
services about Decrease services, Increase services,
where they are lower taxes raise taxes
Mar. 2007 Harris/Tax Foundation 41% 32% 8%
Feb. 2009 Harris/Tax Foundation 36 34 10

QUESTION: Would you rather have more government services if it meant more taxes, less government services in order to reduce
taxes, or services and taxes about as we have them now?

More services/ Same Less services

more taxes as now to reduce taxes
Dec. 1978* LAT 5% 21% 67%
Apr. 1991 LAT 12 45 40
Mar. 1993 Gallup 20 35 40
Aug. 1994 Reader’s Digest/Institute
for Social Inquiry 14 28 52

NOTE : *Asked of registered voters.

QUESTION: Now I am going to mention various areas that receive money from the federal government. For each one, please tell
me if you would be willing to pay more in taxes to keep the program going at its current level, or if you would rather see funding
for that area cut. Would you rather pay more in taxes or cut funding for…

Feb. 28-Mar. 1, 2006 Fox News/Opinion Dynamics

Pay more Cut funding

Education 74% 19%
Health care 69 21
Public safety, such as police forces 67 22
Social Security 67 19
The military 63 25
Repairs on roads and bridges 58 30
Homeland security 56 32
Hurricane relief programs 53 32
Iraq reconstruction 19 70

QUESTION: Listed below are various areas of government spending. Please indicate whether you would like to see more
government spending in each area. Remember that if you say "much more," it might require a tax increase to pay for it.

Spend More
1985 1990 1996 2006
Environment 43% 62% 50% 53%
Health 60 73 67 81
Law Enforcement 51 56 58 57
Education 67 75 77 84
Defence 20 14 21 38
Retirement Benefits 44 49 50 65
Unemployment Benefits 18 27 27 36
 Culture and the Arts 15 14 15 23

NOTE: Responses combine categories “spend much more” and “spend more”.
SOURCE: NORC.

QUESTION: We are faced with many problems in this country, none of which can be solved easily or inexpensively. I'm going to
name some of these problems, and for each one I'd like you to tell me whether you think we're spending too much money on it,
too little money, or about the right amount.

Too Little About Right Too Much

Space exploration program 14 51 36
Improving & protecting environment 68 25 8
Improving & protecting nation’s health 77 18 5
Solving problems of big cities 49 39 13
Halting rising crime rate 62 32 7
Dealing with drug addiction 57 33 10
Improving nation’s education system 71 23 6
Improving the conditions of blacks 38 48 14
Military, armaments, and defense 24 33 43
Foreign aid 12 29 59
Welfare 25 36 38
Highways and bridges 45 45 10
Social security 62 33 6
Mass transportation 49 43 8
Parks and recreation 31 63 5

SOURCE: NORC, 2008.

Government Responsibility and Health Care

QUESTION: Do you think the government should be responsible for providing medical care for people who are unable to pay for
it?
Yes No
1938 Gallup 81% 19%
1991 Gallup 80 13

QUESTION: Do you think it’s the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care coverage,
or is that not the responsibility of the federal government?

Yes No Yes No
Jan. 2000* Gallup 59% 38% Nov. 2006* Gallup 69% 28%
Sept. 2000 Gallup 64 31 Nov. 2007* Gallup 64 33
Nov. 2002 Gallup 62 35 Nov. 2008* Gallup 54 41
Nov. 2003* Gallup 59 39 Nov. 2009 Gallup 47 50
Nov. 2005* Gallup 58 38

Note: **Poll conducted by Gallup/CNN/USA Today. *Asked of a half sample

QUESTION: Do you think it is the responsibility of the federal government to make sure all Americans have health care, or is that
not the responsibility of the federal government?

Yes No
Feb. 17-18, 2009 Fox News/OD 66% 33%
Jul. 21-22, 2009 Fox News/OD 51 46

QUESTION: Do you think the federal government should guarantee health insurance for all Americans, or isn’t this the
responsibility of the federal government?

Guarantee Not Guarantee Not

insurance responsibility insurance responsibility
Aug. 1996 CBS/NYT* 56% 38 July 2000 CBS/NYT** 62 29
Jan. 2006 CBS/NYT 62 31 Jun. 2009 CBS/NYT 64 30
Feb. 2007 CBS/NYT 64 27 Jul. 2009 CBS/NYT 55 38
Mar. 2009 CBS 62% 30% Sept. 2009 CBS/NYT 51 40

Note: *Asked of registered voters. **Asked of half sample

For comments or questions

contact Karlyn Bowman at kbowman@aei.org

This document first appeared on

the AEI website in Oct. 2002

The data in this report come from the archive of public opinion polls at AEI and from The Roper Center’s
archive at the University of Connecticut in Storrs, Connecticut. The Roper Center is the oldest and largest
archive of public opinion data in the world. To learn more about the Roper Center, visit
http://www.ropercenter.uconn.edu/.
For a full listing of AEI’s Public Opinion Studies, please see
http://www.aei.org/raBasicPages/14?page=AEI%20Studies%20in%20Public%20Opinion

Other Recent AEI Public Opinion Studies:

Public Opinion on the War with Iraq Attitudes toward the Federal
America and the War on Terrorism Government
Attitudes about Social Security Reform Attitudes about Homosexuality and Gay
Public Opinion on the Supreme Court Marriage
Attitudes About Abortion Polls on the Environment and Global
Polls on Patriotism and Military Service warming
Public Opinion on Taxes Attitudes About National Service
Economic Insecurity

Also from AEI’s Political Corner:

Political Report!
The American Enterprise Institute’s Political Report is a monthly publication that examines
current trends in public opinion and political developments. This easy-to-read report
summarizes surveys from major pollsters on topics of current interest.

If you’d like to be added to the mailing list, please contact Andrew Rugg at
Andrew.Rugg@aei.org.

You may view Political Report at the Political Corner website

http://www.aei.org/politicalcorner.

AEI PUBLIC OPINION STUDIES CONTRIBUTORS

Karlyn Bowman, Senior Fellow
Andrew Rugg, Editor
Jennifer Marsico, Editor

1150 Seventeenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036 202.862.5800 www.aei.org