A new Gallup poll released Monday shows that nearly half of the U.S. population views the federal government as an “immediate threat” to their rights and freedoms.
A record 49 percent said they feared government overreach. This is the highest number of Americans who have reported feeling threatened by government since Gallup first started asking the question in 2003.
In 2010, only 30 percent reported having this fear.
“The remarkable finding about these attitudes is how much they reflect apparent antipathy toward the party controlling the White House, rather than being a purely fundamental or fixed philosophical attitude about government,” Gallup reported in its findings.
While Democrats and Republicans are both more fearful when the opposite party is in power, both groups have reached record high numbers, with 32 percent of Democrats and 65 percent of Republicans afraid of government overreach.
The reason people cited most was because government is too large, with too many laws. Others feared the loss of civil liberties, violations of freedom, and gun control.
The survey was conducted with 1,025 adults in all 50 states and the District of Columbia with a 4 percent sampling error.
