Poll: 55% say federal government has too much power

The current sentiment that government is too powerful is broadly in line with the trend since 2006 when the majority — between 51% and 60% — have felt this way. Americans expressed lower levels of concern about government power in the years following 9/11. Between 39% and 43% of U.S. adults said the government had too much power during George W. Bush’s first term. However, apprehension increased as Americans’ belief that the Iraq War was a “mistake” mounted, reaching a majority in 2005. Growing public concern about the Patriot Act, the law passed after 9/11 that increased the government’s access to perform surveillance people living in the U.S., may have also raised public anxiety about government power.