Since the 1960s, Gallup has been asking Americans about which of
three institutions they consider to be the biggest threat to the
country in the future -- big business, big labor, or big
government. This year, like every other year that Gallup has asked
the question, big government is perceived as the biggest threat.
But that consistent placement at the top of the threat list
notwithstanding, public opinion on this question has varied
significantly over the years, as the country's political and
economic climates have changed.
Currently, 57% of Americans believe big government is the
greatest threat to the country in the future, while 27% believe big
business is and just 11% see big labor as the most serious threat*.
These results are nearly identical to those from 2003.
Looking back at results on this question over time reveals some
interesting trends.
Big Business
The perceived threat from big business loomed largest in July
2002, when 38% of Americans said big business was the most serious
threat to the country's future -- up 16 percentage points from just
two years earlier. This increase in the perceived threat from big
business was likely spurred by the corporate corruption scandals at
companies such as Enron, Tyco, and WorldCom, which dominated news
headlines that year. The future threat from big business has now
dipped back to 27%, closer to where it stood in the late 1990s.
Big Government
The perceived threat posed by big government swelled to its
highest levels in the mid-1990s. Each of the four times Gallup
asked this question during President Bill Clinton's Democratic
administration, nearly two-thirds of Americans cited big government
as the biggest threat to the country's future. During the 1980s,
when Republican President Ronald Reagan led the country on a
platform of reducing the size of the federal government, roughly
half of the public feared big government most. But despite Reagan's
emphasis on smaller government, fear of big government was still
somewhat higher in the 1980s than in the 1960s and 1970s.
Big Labor
The historical trend on this question reflects the diminishing
influence of labor unions in recent decades. The percentage of
Americans who believe big labor presents the biggest threat to the
country was in the high 20s for most of the 1960s. But that
percentage has declined steadily over the years, and has averaged
in the single digits since 1995.
A Party Question
In this year's poll, there are no differences among
Republicans, Democrats, and independents when it comes to the
threat they see from big government. Similar percentages among each
political group see big government as the biggest threat. More
Republicans than Democrats see big labor as a threat and more
Democrats than Republicans see big business as a threat. In the
past, Republicans have been more likely to see big government as
the greatest threat, but still a majority of all partisan groups
agree.
*These results are based on telephone interviews
with a randomly selected national sample of 1,003 adults, aged 18
and older, conducted Dec. 5-8, 2004. For results based on these
samples, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error
attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3
percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording
and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce
error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
