Public: Big Government Greater Threat Than Big Labor, Big Business

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- A recent Gallup Poll updated one of Gallup's long-term trend questions that asks Americans whether big government, big business, or big labor will be the biggest threat to the country in the future. Given this choice, Americans continue to be strongly likely to say that big government poses the greatest threat to the country. Of the remaining two, Americans are more inclined to say big business, rather than big labor, will be the biggest threat. Since the mid-1960s, Americans have consistently said big government poses the greatest threat, but there have been fluctuations in views of the threat that big business and big labor pose. Political attitudes shape Americans' views as to which of these poses the greatest threat to the country.

Overall Results

The poll, conducted Dec. 11-14, finds that 61% of Americans say big government will pose the biggest threat in the future. Twenty-five percent of Americans say big business will be the greatest threat to the country, and 9% say big labor. These results have varied little since 2003. In 2002, when a spate of corporate corruption scandals made the news, there was an increase in the percentage of Americans saying big business was the greatest threat, but that did not persist. 

Each time Gallup has asked this question since 1965, Americans have said that big government poses the biggest threat to the country. The percentage has fluctuated significantly over this period, averaging 51% across 19 polls conducted from 1965 through 2006, with a high of 65% in 1999 and 2000 and a low of 33% in 1969. From 1965 through 1985, Americans were more divided as to whether big business or big labor was the biggest threat, but since 1995, Americans have been at least twice as likely to say big business is the biggest threat.

Political Attitudes Shape Views of Biggest Threat to Country

Because these results have been remarkably stable since 2003, Gallup combined the results of its past four surveys to better understand how different groups of Americans respond to this question. The results show that political attitudes are strongly related to Americans' views of whether big government, big business, or big labor poses the biggest threat to the country.

Solid majorities of both conservatives (65%) and moderates (59%) say big government will be the biggest threat to the country in the future. Liberals are more divided in their views, with 49% saying big government and 43% saying big business. Only small percentages of the three groups say big labor poses the greatest threat.

There are also differences by party affiliation in response to this question. Big government is considered the biggest threat by a majority of Republicans (63%), independents (58%), and Democrats (56%). But, the three groups differ on whether big business or big labor poses a greater threat. Democrats (34%) are more likely than independents (28%) or Republicans (19%) to say big business will be the biggest threat, while Republicans (14%) are about twice as likely as independents (8%) or Democrats (6%) to say big labor will be the biggest threat.

Survey Methods

Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,010 national adults, aged 18 and older, conducted Dec. 11-14, 2006. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error 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.

In your opinion which of the following will be the biggest threat to the country in the future -- big business, big labor, or big government?