Over half of US voters believe gov't doing 'too much' - Poll

MOSCOW - Over half of Americans believe that the US government is micromanaging what should be delegated to individuals or the private sector, and that it has too much power, according to a Gallup poll released on Wednesday, reported Sputnik.

"A 54 per cent majority of Americans believe the government is ‘trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses’, whereas 43 per cent think it ‘should do more to solve the country’s problems’," the pollster said.

The public sentiment was roughly the same in 2022 and 2021, but not in 2020, when on the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic more people wanted the government to do more.

Gallup found that the opinion that the US government is doing "too much" is more prevalent when the president is a Democrat. For instance, 55 per cent of Americans believe that the government was doing too much under Barack Obama, while 48 per cent said so about Donald Trump's administration and 53 per cent about Joe Biden's incumbent administration.

Asked if they thought the US government had "too much power", 57 per cent responded in the affirmative, while seven per cent said it had "too little power" and 36 per cent said it was "about the right amount".

"Currently, 81 per cent of Republicans, 59 per cent of independents and 26 per cent of Democrats say the federal government has too much power," Gallup said.

The poll was carried out from Sept 1 to 23 as part of Gallup's annual Governance series. - BERNAMA-SPUTNIK