In a majority shift amid the coronavirus pandemic, fewer people believe the government “should do more to solve problems” than in 2020, a national poll found.
While 54% of respondents to a Gallup survey in 2020 said the government “should do more to solve problems,” a majority shift occurred amid the coronavirus pandemic, which has seen an increase in government mandates. By 2021, only 43% thought the same.
“The shift toward favoring a more active government role in 2020 was seen among Democrats and independents but not Republicans — likely a response to the coronavirus pandemic and in particular to then-President Donald Trump’s approach to handling it,” according to the poll’s analysis.
The spread of COVID-19 led the government to impose various rules on public and private institutions, including vaccine mandates, coronavirus testing, mask policies, and social distancing requirements.
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Forty-one percent of respondents in 2020 said the government was “trying to do too many things,” while 52% said as much in 2021.
In a breakdown by party, 74% of Republicans said the government was “trying to do too many things” in 2020, while 80% said the same in 2021. For Democrats, 13% thought as much in 2020, with 18% saying the same in 2021. Independents marked the most significant change, with 38% saying the government was doing too much in 2020 and 57% saying that in 2021.
When it came to whether the government should be doing more, 22% of Republicans said it should in 2020 while 15% said the same in 2021. Democrats moved from 83% in 2020 to 78% in 2021. Fifty-six percent of independents said it should be doing more in 2020, decreasing to 38% in 2021.
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The Gallup survey was conducted between Sept. 1 and 17 among 1,005 adults and had a margin of error of +/- 4 percentage points.
