Hey, remember last October when the media was going on and on about how Americans were so pissed at Republicans over the government shut down? Turns out, even after the shut down, Americans still hate their government, and satisfaction with U.S. governance is even lower than pre-shutdown levels according to Gallup. As usual, it’s Democrats who have the highest satifiscation with government, but for independents, their satisfaction with government is below the levels in September 2013.
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| Satisfaction with U.S. governance lower than Pre-Shutdown |
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More than one in four Americans are satisfied with the way the nation is being governed, while nearly three in four are dissatisfied. Americans’ satisfaction has varied widely in recent years. Although the 27% who are currently satisfied is higher than the record-low satisfaction seen last October during the partial government shutdown, it is still below where it was in September 2013, before the shutdown began.
Gallup first asked Americans about their satisfaction with the way the country is governed in 1971 and has done so at least annually since 2001. Prior to 2008, the record low was 26% in 1973, during the Watergate scandal. In two measurements in the 1980s and 1990s, and from 2001 until 2003, more Americans were satisfied with the government than were dissatisfied.
However, in 2004, Americans were evenly divided, and more have been dissatisfied than satisfied since then. Satisfaction has been a highly fluid measure, reaching as high as 43% in 2009 before plummeting below 20% in 2011 and in late 2013, both years in which Congress faced heated budget discussions.