By a 62%-to-34% margin, most Americans agree that “when something is run by the government, it is usually inefficient and wasteful”; this is the highest level of cynicism in a decade. By an identical margin, a majority of Americans do not believe that “most elected officials care what people like me think.” Both cases reflect a substantially higher level of skepticism about government than in 2002 or 2003. The 34% reading on those who believe elected officials care about the views of average Americans is on par with a 20-year low of 33% in 1994. Read More
Think Government Is Wasteful
Russell Heimlich is a former web developer at Pew Research Center.