If it's in the News, it's in our Polls. Public opinion polling since 2003.

POLITICS

Voters Say Government Has Too Much Power

Most voters continue to believe the government has too much power over the individual citizen.

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey finds that 58% of Likely U.S. Voters think there is too much government power and too little individual freedom today. This finding has tracked between 55% and 66% in surveys since 2012 when Rasmussen Reports first asked this question. Just 11% think there is too much individual freedom and too little government power in the country today. Twenty-four percent (24%) say the balance between the two is about right. (To see survey question wording, click here.)

(Want a free daily e-mail update? If it's in the news, it's in our polls). Rasmussen Reports updates are also available on Twitter or Facebook.

The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on December 6 & 9, 2018 by Rasmussen Reports. The margin of sampling error is +/- 3 percentage points with a 95% level of confidence. Field work for all Rasmussen Reports surveys is conducted by Pulse Opinion Research, LLC. See methodology.

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We conduct public opinion polls on a variety of topics to inform our audience on events in the news and other topics of interest. To ensure editorial control and independence, we pay for the polls ourselves and generate revenue through the sale of subscriptions, sponsorships, and advertising. Nightly polling on politics, business and lifestyle topics provides the content to update the Rasmussen Reports web site many times each day. If it's in the news, it's in our polls. Additionally, the data drives a daily update newsletter and various media outlets across the country.

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