Gallup: Americans View Dissatisfaction With Government as Nations Top Problem

Americans view government as the number one problem facing the U.S., according to a new poll that showed 21 percent of Americans consider dissatisfaction with government (leadership, incompetence, and dysfunction) to be the top problem facing the U.S., up two percentage points from July.

The Gallup survey notes that immigration, which was at top of the list last month, slips from 22 percent to 16 percent and economic issues continue to rank low on the list of top problems facing the U.S.

The poll also notes for the third consecutive month and for the ninth month of the Trump presidency so far, less than 20% of the public lists any of the nation’s economic issues as the most important U.S. problem. The number of economic mentions dropped below 20% only four times during George W. Bush’s two terms and not once during Obama’s two terms.

The number two problem facing the U.S. is Immigration/Illegal aliens as 16% of survey respondents consider this to be to the most pressing problem, down six percentage points from July.

“Twenty-two percent had named immigration as the most important problem in July amid the political furor resulting from the Trump administration’s policy of separating children from their parents who crossed into the country illegally,” said Gallup.

Gallup reports that in each of the past five monthly polls, immigration and government have been the two most-often-named problems. At least 19% have listed problems with government in every monthly poll this year, and at least 10% have named immigration in six of the eight polls.

Gallup asked: “What do you think is the most important problem facing this country today? [OPEN-ENDED]”

After 21 percent naming dissatisfaction with government, 16 percent named immigration, 7 percent said Race relations/Racism while only four percent said unemployment/jobs.

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Aug. 1-12, 2018, with a random sample of 1,024 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points.