By, or for, the People?
A Meta-Analysis of Public Opinion of Government
March 25, 2005
By Meg Bostrom

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Introduction

Since the advent of modern public opinion polling, much has been written about public attitudes toward government. The range of studied topics includes: trends in public trust and confidence, support for government agencies, and recently the effect of the events of September 11, 2001 on public perceptions of government and public servants, trends in civic involvement, factors influencing political identification, and more. Typically, these analyses thoroughly review a few specific trends in public opinion, such as historical trends in perceptions of trust in government, confidence in institutions, or views of taxes, and the reasons behind those trends. Instead of replicating existing efforts, this analysis seeks to add to the knowledge base by bringing a different perspective that is grounded in Strategic Frame Analysis.

Strategic Frame Analysis is a research process developed by the FrameWorks Institute to analyze existing issue frames and recommend effective reframes. The FrameWorks Institute defines framing as referring to "the way a story is told -- its selective use of particular symbols, metaphors, and messengers, for example -- and to the way these cues, in turn, trigger the shared and durable cultural models that people use to make sense of their world" (Bales and Gilliam, 2002). Research on how people think demonstrates that people use mental shortcuts to make sense of the world, and that new information provides cues to help people determine how to connect the new information to what they already know. This lens on the information then quickly defines issue understanding, priority, consequences, solutions, and responsibility for fixing the problem. This is framing. (Note: For more information on frames and framing, see the FrameWorks Institute web site at www.frameworksinstitute.org.)

Even a cursory review of public attitudes of government indicates that public perceptions of government are malleable. Slight variations in question wording or survey context can lead to dramatically different responses. For example, 58% of survey respondents say that they are satisfied with the way democracy works in the United States when the question is asked at the beginning of a survey after a standard "right direction/wrong track" question.¹ However, if respondents are first exposed to a question about the level of freedom Americans experience, fully 78% report that they are satisfied with democracy.²

Surveys cue particular mindsets, both intentionally and unintentionally. The effect of language and survey context on public perceptions is particularly striking on views of government. The same question in a different context frequently results in significant shifts in response. For the purposes of this analysis, the malleability of opinion and the volatility of survey context and question wording are beneficial, because patterns of opinion can emerge with careful study. Since this analysis is based upon existing public opinion data rather than carefully controlled experiments, it is not possible to provide a clearly defined analysis of the effect of different mindsets on opinion. However, it is possible to identify overall patterns of opinion that begin to delineate different mindsets.

After a careful review of dozens of surveys and thousands of survey questions, most conducted within the past five years, the author categorized several images of government that emerge from existing surveys. These images are somewhat subjective and are simply intended to illuminate patterns in opinion that can lead to strategic insights for communicators. The analysis is constrained by the limits of existing opinion data, meaning that other images of government undoubtedly exist but were not apparent in existing surveys. In the larger project of the FrameWorks Institute to research and analyze the frames with which Americans process information about government, the next phase of qualitative research will be able to build upon and refine these initial image categories.

After careful study, the author has grouped answers to existing survey questions into the following categories:

• Government of and by the People: a democratic relationship to government, in which the public views itself as being the government. The public recognizes that citizenship has obligations, but many people also believe that being a good person is enough. Problematically, if good citizen becomes equated with good person, then citizen participation in government could decline even while people become more involved in their communities as charitable actors. To become an effective reframe for government, this approach needs to strengthen public perceptions of the distinctive value of citizenship.
• Government for the People: an image of government based on whether or not it is perceived to be acting on behalf of the public interest in some way. The For the People image of government distances citizens from government and from their personal responsibility for government because it positions government as a separate entity, an institution. The For the People image of government has several nuances:

  • Public Servant: an image of government defined by the public's consideration of whether or not government is reflective of the wishes of the majority.

  • Watchdog and Protector: an image of government working for the best interests of the public by protecting the public from harm or from the powerful.

  • Service Provider: an image grounded in the programs and services that government provides. This image puts the public in the role of consumer and forces people to consider whether or not they benefit from government programs and services, and whether the programs are worth the money they pay in taxes. When the public holds a negative view of government's ability to fulfill this role, they see government as a Wasteful, Inefficient Bureaucracy. When they consider more positive possibilities of what services government can provide, they see government as a Problem Solver.

• Big Brother: an image of government as powerful, controlling,and endangering civil liberties, but also protecting people from external threats. This image has received quite a bit of visibility in the opinion polls since September 11, 2001.
• Moral Guide: a less visible image of government, based on the public's desire to strengthen family values. People see appropriate and inappropriate overlap between government and religion.
• The Symbol: an image of government invoked by references to American freedom or patriotism. Understandings of patriotism are not necessarily tied to involvement in government. Most people assert that being a patriot does not necessarily require an active political or civic life.

The analysis that follows is a synthesis of available data, not a catalog. It is intended to illuminate patterns in opinion that lead to strategic insights. Depending upon the appropriateness of the results, both recent and archived results are reflected in this research.

The interpretation offered in this review is the author's alone. Other analysts may provide a different interpretation of the data.