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Poll: Most Americans Say Feds Are Responsible for Basic Services

The American public’s view on the scope of the federal government's responsibilities remains broad, a new survey shows.

(CN) --- A poll released Monday found that a majority of Americans said the federal government has a responsibility to provide basic services to citizens despite a low overall trust in the government, especially among those who did not vote for the current occupant of the White House.

In a recent Pew Research Center survey, respondents were asked if they believe the federal government has a responsibility to provide clean air and water, high quality K-12 education, health insurance, adequate income in retirement, reasonable standard of living, access to high-speed internet and a college education.

Of these seven items, a majority of Americans saw the federal government as responsible for providing clean air and water, K-12 schooling, health care, retirement income and a fair standard of living. Smaller percentages believed it is the federal government's responsibility to provide access to broadband internet and a college education.

Breaking the survey down by partisan affiliation, Democrats said, in large numbers, that the federal government has a big role in all seven areas. In contrast, most Republicans said the government has no responsibility to provide such services, especially for health care, college, standard of living and retirement. 

Democrats and Republicans were closest in their belief that it is the duty of the government to provide clean air and water, with an average difference of 18 percentage points between respondents from the two parties. 

Disagreement was widest on the question of health care. Eighty-eight percent of Democrats saw the government as responsible for providing health care, with just 33% of Republicans agreeing.

Those respondents who believed it is the government's responsibility to provide services in all of the seven categories were largely 18 to 49 years old and identified as a person of color with lower income. To the contrary, those who supported smaller government were largely ages 50 and up and white with upper to middle income status. 

Overall, respondents' views of the government's responsibility remain largely unchanged since 2019 and through the Covid-19 pandemic. However, one area of significant change is whether the government has a responsibility to provide high-speed internet access, which rose by 15% from 2019 to 2021.

The survey also found a slightly decline in whether people think the government should do more to solve problems. In 2020, support for government action amid the pandemic grew to a peak of 59% in the middle of the year. That figure has decreased to 55%, in part due to an increase in the number of Republicans who saw the government as doing too much during the coronavirus crisis. Democrats have remained in favor of the federal government addressing issues.

A quarter of Americans say they trust the federal government to do the right thing always or most of the time. Fitting the pattern of political polarization, trust in the government is higher among Democrats when a Democrat is president and lower during Republican administrations, and vice versa for Republicans.

Researchers recorded a 15% to 36% jump in Democrats' faith in the government after President Joe Biden assumed office in January, and Republicans' trust in the feds dropped from 32% to 9%, a historic low.

Pew surveyed 5,109 American adults from April 5 to 11 for the poll.

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Categories / Government, National, Politics

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