From the public’s perspective, the protracted stalemate in Washington, the partial shutdown of government, and the threat of a default next week are becoming more matters of process than of the underlying issues involved. [cont.] Frank Newport, Gallup Read more »
The Six Big Takeaways From the Government Shutdown
… As I discuss in my book, the more common tendency instead is that people (and especially the “experts” who write about the issues for a living) overestimate the degree of predictability in complex systems. … That’s been my impression of the coverage of the shutdown: The folks you see […] Read more »
The Public Weighs In on the Shutdown
Polls show both parties are suffering in the government shutdown and debt-ceiling fights. The numbers for Republicans are marginally worse than those for President Obama and Democrats, but no one is escaping without damage. [cont.] Karl Rove Read more »
Americans’ Satisfaction With U.S. Gov’t Drops to New Low
Eighteen percent of Americans are satisfied with the way the nation is being governed, down 14 percentage points from the 32% recorded last month before the partial government shutdown began. This is the lowest government satisfaction rating in Gallup’s history of asking the question dating back to 1971. [cont.] Joy […] Read more »
Utah: Senator Mike Lee and the Shutdown
Senator Mike Lee has received considerable attention nationally, within Utah, and even among his fellow U.S. Senators for his role with Senator Ted Cruz in executing a strategy to defund the Affordable Care Act (widely known as Obamacare). … First of all, 57% of Utahns overall would like Senator Lee […] Read more »
The conservative shift in public opinion has happened in all 50 states
Recently on this blog, Larry Bartels drew attention to an astonishing fact: the public is as conservative as it has been in 50 years. To highlight this point, Professor Bartels presented the public’s policy mood — James Stimson’s measure of public support for government programs—from 1950 to 2012. In a […] Read more »