American attitudes toward government are becoming even more negative, according to a new Pew Research Center poll. This could be a positive sign for the future if this trend holds.
The survey, whose findings were published on Thursday, showed a distinct drop in the percentage of respondents who have a favorable opinion of federal, state, and local governments.
However, the most significant drop in favorable views came with the federal government.
Just 22% of U.S. adults have a favorable opinion of the federal government, down 10 percentage points since 2022.
State governments get mixed ratings: 50% of adults have a favorable opinion and 49% have an unfavorable view. This reflects a 4-point decline in favorability since 2022 and a 9-point decline since 2019.
61% of adults rate their local government positively. But this, too, is down from 66% in 2022 and 69% in 2019.
Opinions on federal and state government predictably depended on whether the respondents were of the same party that is in charge at each level of government. “Democrats and Republicans alike have far more favorable views of their state government when the party they support has control of both the legislature and the governorship,” the report read.
However, at the local level, opinions on local government are less partisan. “Americans differ little by party in opinion of their local government, with similar shares of Republicans (63%) and Democrats (64%) holding favorable views,” according to the poll.
For some, these results might be a negative sign. But for folks who value liberty, they signify that Americans are adopting a healthier view of the state.
For starters, if more people are dissatisfied with the government, this could be an indication that people are paying more attention. After all, the only way one could be happy with their government is if they are not aware of what their elected officials are up to. It is also worth noting that Americans can see that they are dealing with the same problems that government officials have promised to solve for decades.
With inflation levels remaining high, along with rates of crime, people can clearly see that the government is not doing its job. Education, immigration, and healthcare are also issues on which the government has failed to do its job. It's no wonder that more people are seeing that the state is not fulfilling its promises.
As more people discover that their government is either inept, malicious, or both, there will be more calls for change. It is possible that more Americans will get more involved and take action to affect the change they wish to see. When things get painful enough, and the populace realizes the depths to which corruption has permeated, perhaps people will get ticked off enough to do something about it.
Lastly, this could prompt more grassroots activism and involvement in local government. The fact that most people have a positive view of their local government could be an issue, however. If you have read my work over the past couple of years, you already know that all kinds of malfeasances happen among members of the city council, law enforcement agencies, and mayors' offices that people don’t know about. As I often say, “The Deep State is also in your backyard.”
However, as more of this gets exposed, it could prompt more people to take a closer look at the officials running their cities, towns, and counties. This presents an opportunity for liberty lovers to begin making inroads and changing minds.
In short, the results of this poll make me cautiously optimistic that change is coming down the road.
In the words of John Lennon, “You may say I’m a dreamer,” and perhaps I’m being too optimistic. But when things get painful enough, that is when people rise up and demand change. Hopefully, I’m not the only one who can see where this might go. And no, that was not an incognito endorsement of Communism. I just think it’s a pretty song.