The American public doesn’t think too highly of its federal government, according to poll results released last Monday by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service and Gallup. Only 27 percent of respondents rated federal departments and agencies as good or excellent while 66 percent said they were fair or poor.
Although the popular attitude of bashing the government certainly plays a role, these ratings are not based on poor PR alone. More than three-quarters of respondents could recall some type of contact with a federal agency in the past and 69 percent reported an interaction in the past six months, although it is unknown what percent of interactions involved the IRS.
Of course, those in Congress would rejoice over such numbers, as Congressional approval ratings are hovering around 19 percent. The President is perceived only slightly better, with but 28 percent of the country approving of the job he is doing.
Despite perceiving federal agencies and legislators poorly, Americans continue to have faith in their military. Ninety percent of survey participants rated the men and women in uniform as doing a good or excellent job, and 70 percent thought the US military as a whole was good or excellent.
The survey also asked respondents to rate the job the federal government is doing on individual issues. A narrow majority of respondents gave high marks to the running of the country’s national parks, the regulation of safety standards for workplaces, the administration of federal tax collection, and response to public health emergencies.
Topping the best in show list was the fed's efforts to protecting our nation from military/terrorist threats (69 percent approval rating) and providing security for air travel (70 percent approval rating). Americans might love to complain about the TSA and air travel in general, but apparently the fact that thousands of flights take off and land without incident every day does not go unappreciated.
Respondents were most unhappy with the government’s efforts to protect the nation’s financial system - 85 percent responded as fair or poor - which is not surprising given the current economic climate. More than three-quarters were also unhappy with the job the federal government is doing enforcing immigration laws and improving the quality of education.
The survey also addressed public perception of government processes. Of those surveyed, a staggering 92 percent believed the government does not use taxpayer money wisely; 87 percent fear that decisions are made based on politics and not merit; and 86 percent think the government is hiding things and could be much more transparent.
OhMyGov!’s own survey of its readers also found that increased transparency is a key to improving government operations, which to many seem shrouded in secrecy.
Among the survey’s other findings are the percentage of Americans who are using the internet to interact with the federal government. More than half reported having visited the web site of a federal department or agency and 38 percent did so in the past six months. This is a tremendous opportunity for the federal government to improve its image as agencies turn to best practice models within both government and the private sector.
A place for them to start is the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) E-Gov Index ratings reported this fall. The quarterly report measures government sites with
the methodology of the University of Michigan’s American Customer
Satisfaction Index (ACSI). The last report showed that the average “e-government”
website is lagging behind the private sector, and that most have plenty of room for
improvement.
Also Interesting:
Most Read