Why do people think government sucks?

A recent Gallup poll says only 10% of Americans approve of Congress. That’s only 1% above the all-time low of 9% (in November of 2013). Gallup has measured approval since 1974, when approval was at 30%.

Now 86% disapprove of Congress.

That is staggering, even if you consider the average approval over the years is only 28% and disapproval is 65%. So you might say that normally people think Congress stinks, but nowadays? There’s no getting around it; it sucks.

Republicans’ perception of Congress has fallen the furthest, with approval at 63% in March of last year and now sitting at 20%. Democrats were unhappy already in 2025, with only 23% approving, but now that approval rating is resting in the toilet at 3%.

Pew research has recent polling on trust in government going back to 1958. I was four years old then, and trust in government was at 73%. It has declined quite steadily since then and now sits at a 17% level of trust in government.

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents trust the government at the rate of 25%. Democrats trust the government at the rate of 9%, the lowest level of trust for them ever.

Why don’t we love our government? Here are some reasons I can think of…

1.      Government doesn’t do what it is supposed to do. For instance, the TSA is famously unpopular, adding time and hassle to your travel plans. But with the DHS shutdown, waiting lines at the TSA are simply horrible. Yes, we hate the TSA but we sure wish it would do its job efficiently and not make our lives worse than it already did.

2.      ICE is out of control. With ICE’s record of denying people their basic rights and trampling on due process, many wonder why we need the department at all. Government was supposed to defend rights and ensure constitutional restrictions on itself, wasn’t it?

3.      Both parties controlling government want to expand it. If it’s not for war, then it’s for control of the individual. Regulatory burden on businesses never lets up and it only gets worse. And it doesn’t matter which party is in power.

There is a clear correlation between the size and scope of government and people’s trust in it. Government simply has no incentive to do better. As they say, “When a private business does a bad job, it suffers. But when government does a bad job, you suffer.”

My takeaway is this: As long as the two big government parties control government, we are going to get more of the same. More wars, more inflation, more control over the individual, more bureaucracy. And our satisfaction with the job government does will continue to decline.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. You don't have to vote for one of the old "business as usual" parties. The Libertarian Party has been working since 1972 to fight the all-powerful government. Fighting for more freedom to pursue happiness. Fighting for your right to keep the fruits of those pursuits. Fighting for your Constitutional rights.

It’s time to give individuals like you and me a chance, and the Libertarian option is worth your vote. And if we reduce the size, the intrusiveness, and the expense of government, we’ll be happier with the result.