45% See Gap Between Governed and Those Who Govern As Comparable to American Revolution
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 45% of Likely U.S. Voters agree with the following statement: The gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them is now as big as the gap between the American colonies and England during the 18th Century.
Nearly as many (40%), however, disagree with the statement. Sixteen percent (16%) are undecided. (To see survey question wording, click here.)
The gap between Mainstream voters and the Political Class on the statement is enormous. Fifty-five percent (55%) of Mainstream voters agree that the gap between Americans who want to govern themselves and politicians who want to rule over them is as big as it was between the colonies and England in the 18th Century. A whopping 95% of Political Calls voters reject that view.
Among those who consider themselves Tea Party members, 84% agree with the statement, while just 52% of non-members disagree.
Sixty-five percent (65%) of Republicans and a plurality (47%) of voters not affiliated with either major party also agree that the gap between Americans and their elected representatives is comparable to the time of the American Revolution. Fifty-six percent (56%) of Democrats disagree with that assessment.
This high level of skepticism among a large number of voters is perhaps not surprising given that 69% are at least somewhat angry with the current policies of the federal government, including 38% who are Very Angry. Just 23% of voters believe the federal government today has the consent of the governed.
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The survey of 1,000 Likely Voters was conducted on June 9, 2011 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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