Are Americans growing warier of more government just as Biden tries to pass his big agenda?

A year ago, as Americans were casting their votes for president, the effects of the coronavirus pandemic had shifted attitudes toward greater support for a more robust role for government. Many Democrats believed that could be a long-lasting effect and President Biden built his domestic agenda in part around the idea that Americans were ready for big and bold.

Global pandemics have a history of changing the shape of societies. Working from home is one example. A warming toward government and its role in helping to alleviate the pandemic’s shocks to the well-being of families and businesses appeared to be another. Today there is some evidence that the public’s appetite for more and bigger government, at least in the abstract, is not what it was last year.

The evidence comes from new polling from the Gallup organization, which produces an annual survey of attitudes about government, governance and politics. CONTINUED

Dan Balz, Washington Post


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