Americans have little faith in government

Americans enter 2014 with a profoundly negative view of their government, expressing little hope that elected officials can or will solve the nation’s biggest problems. The poll by the Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research has found that half of Americans believe the US system of democracy needs either “a lot of changes” or a complete overhaul. Only one in 20 Americans have said the US government works well and needs no changes. According to the Poll, 70 percent say the US government lacks the ability “to make progress on the important problems and issues facing the country in 2014.” Healthcare, jobs, and economy are top on the list that needs improvement. Regarding health care reform, about half of respondents, 49 percent, are “not at all confident” there will be real progress, and 20 percent are only “slightly confident.” On the issue of budget and national debt, 65 percent of those surveyed say they have no confidence in the government’s ability to fix it and 20 percent are only “slightly confident”. The survey also found that 62 percent are pessimistic about the way their leaders are chosen. Another poll by CNN/ORC found that most Americans feel the economy is in bad shape. According to the survey released Friday, the majority of people in the United States are broadly pessimistic about the opportunity to achieve the American dream. Over half expect the economy to remain in poor shape a year from now. Two-thirds of respondents in the poll said most of the economic news they have heard recently was bad news.