When analyzing political behavior, then, or teaching one of my classes, I tend to rely on polls that asked more pointed questions or delve into specific issues. Fortunately, Gallup supplements its self-identification test with many such questions.
Consider this question, asked since the early 1990s: “Some people think government is trying to do too many things that should be left to individuals and businesses. Others think that government ought to do more to solve our country’s problems. Which comes closer to your view?”
Unlike the results of the self-identification test, the answers to this question about government activism have gyrated quite a lot over the years. Most of the time, the former position (the more conservative one) is significantly more popular than the “government ought to do more” position. During much of the 1990s and 2010s, for example, about 60% picked the right-leaning position while only 32% picked the left-leaning one.
During recessions, wars or other crises, however, the lines converged or even crossed. Just after the 9/11 attacks, 50% of Americans wanted government to be more active vs. 41% who said it was doing too much. The gap was even larger in 2020 as the COVID crisis hit (54% to 41%), though it flipped back to a conservative edge (52% to 43%) in 2021.
