original title:
The World Says｜Gallup Poll: Political Polarization, Economic Difficulties, American Satisfaction Levels Fall to Lowest Since 2011
China Daily, December 14. On the 13th local time, the American Gallup polling company released the 2022 American public satisfaction survey. An average of 19 percent of U.S. adults in this year’s 11 surveys cited some aspect of government as the most important issue facing the country. In the past ten years, this is the seventh year that the American people have listed dissatisfaction with the government as the top issue in the United States that year.
U.S. government issues ranked ahead of high cost of living or inflation (16%) and the overall economy (12%), the findings showed. On the list, immigration, national unity, the new crown epidemic, race relations and crime will have an average mention rate of 4% to 6% in 2022.
Judging from the survey data, there are stark differences across the US parties in their views on the country’s top three issues. On average, Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to name government as the most pressing issue in 2022. Additionally, Republicans were more than twice as likely as Democrats to mention inflation and the overall economy, while independents’ readings fell between the two parties. Republicans are more likely than Democrats and independents to identify immigration as a top issue, while race relations and abortion are the opposite.
Although the annual average of the new crown epidemic, abortion, and gun issues are relatively low, they will increase in importance in 2022. In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade case, leading to a record high of 8% of U.S. adults who believe abortion is a top issue in the United States. The share of Americans citing guns as the nation’s most important issue rose to 8 percent in June after two mass shootings at a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, and an elementary school in Texas in May.
Looking at the Gallup poll list in the past five years, the US government has only been replaced at the top of the list once in 2020, and the new crown epidemic has become the top issue of the year. “Government” is a broad category of dissatisfaction with government, including a range of responses from the president himself, Congress, party politics and gridlock. Dissatisfaction with the government did not become one of the major problems facing the country until 2012. It has been the No. 1 or No. 2 most-cited issue every year since 2013 — when the government shutdown led to a spike in mentions of the government.
Annual averages from 2008 to 2012 (during and after the Great Recession in the U.S.) show the economy most often listed as the top issue in the U.S., with unemployment also a dominant issue. Inflation, which has not been among the top four problems facing the United States for more than 20 years, is at the top of the list this year as U.S. inflation hit its highest level since the early 1980s.
Meanwhile, the survey found that Americans’ satisfaction with the status quo in the United States fell 9 points from last year’s average, to 18%. This is the lowest since 17% in 2011 and the fourth time since 1979 that annual satisfaction has fallen below 20%. The other two were in 1979 and 2008, when the US was also in a period of economic turmoil.
American people’s dissatisfaction with the government continues to surpass all other single issues as the most pressing issue in the United States in 2022, and worsening inflation has also exacerbated Americans’ concerns. The deeply polarized U.S. political landscape and struggling economy have undoubtedly affected public satisfaction with the direction of the country.
(Compilation: Ma Rui)