Which level of government do American hate the most?

Starters
Written By Jonathan Milner

Critical Analysis

Find answers to the following questions using the visual above, any links below, your big brain, and your knowledge of American government and politics:

  1. According to the visual above from the Pew Research Center, as of December 2023 what percent of Americans had an unfavorable view of the federal government in Washington?

  2. Which level of government do Americans find most favorable?

  3. Describe the change over time in Americans’ overall opinion of all levels of government.

  4. Identify three things causing that rapid change.

  5. Describe your own opinion about the federal, state, and local governments and explain the roots of your feelings.

  6. Some countries have unitary systems which concentrate all their governmental power in the national level. Other countries have federal systems which share or divide governmental power between local, state, and national governments. Thinking about the history and geography of America, why does the U.S. divide power between national and subnational (state and local) governments?

  7. How do you think the amount of the power of a level of government is related to our dislike of it?

  8. How do you think our physical proximity to a level of government is related to our opinion of it?

  9. Consider this: the U.S. as a whole nation is politically polarized (fiercely oppositional and closely divided between Republicans and Democrats), states are generally less Polarized (with some notable exceptions like Georgia and Arizona, which are very closely divided between Democrats and Republicans), and local governments are generally not very divided at all (people in cities and towns are more likely to agree with each other). How does polarization impact Americans’ opinions of the different levels of government?

  10. At the Constitutional convention, the Anti-Federalists argued against the expansion of national power. They favored small localized governments with limited national authority as was exercised under the Articles of Confederation. They generally believed a republican government was only possible on the state level and would not work on the national level. Therefore, only a confederacy of the individual states could protect the nation’s liberty and freedom. The Federalists, primarily led by Alexander Hamilton, James Madison, and John Jay, believed that establishing a large national government was not only possible, but necessary to “create a more perfect union”. The Federalists believed that a strong national republic would be more effective and better preserve the individual liberties of the people. What would these two sides think of the data from the visual above?

Write and Discuss

Take ten minutes to write about the question at the top of the page and then discuss with your classmates.

Get Creative

If the three levels of government in the US were cars which would each be?

Act on your Learning

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Glossary

Jonathan Milner

Civics Maven!

https://www.gopopro.com/
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