Does Federal Government Threaten Personal Rights and Freedoms?
Currently, 30% of Americans say the federal government is a major threat to their personal rights and freedoms. That is up from 18% in October 2003 and more than the previous high of 23% in June 2000. Another 17% now say they see the government as a minor threat. Still, half of the public (50%) says they do not think the government threatens their personal rights or freedoms, little changed from percentage who said this in October 2003 (54%). There is a substantial partisan and ideological divide about whether the federal government is a major threat to personal rights and freedoms. Currently, far more Republicans and independents who lean Republican say this than did so in 2003 during George W. Bush’s first term as president. By contrast, opinion among Democrats and those who lean Democratic has shifted little since that time. Nearly half (47%) of conservative Republicans now say the government is a major threat, up from just 13% in 2003. Similarly, more than twice as many moderate Re
