{"id":231155,"date":"2025-05-06T13:53:50","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T17:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/?post_type=short-read&p=231155"},"modified":"2025-05-06T13:53:52","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T17:53:52","slug":"americans-see-a-role-for-the-federal-government-in-many-domains-but-some-large-partisan-divisions-persist","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2025\/05\/06\/americans-see-a-role-for-the-federal-government-in-many-domains-but-some-large-partisan-divisions-persist\/","title":{"rendered":"Americans see a role for the federal government in many domains, but some large partisan divisions persist"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania Avenue and Federal Triangle in Washington, D.C. (Carol M. Highsmith\/Buyenlarge\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Majorities of Americans say the federal government has a responsibility to provide a wide array of support and services for the country \u2013 but there is more consensus about some domains than others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Nearly all Americans say the federal government has a responsibility to provide a strong military and secure the nation\u2019s borders.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are seen as government responsibilities by overwhelming majorities in both parties: 97% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents say each is the federal government\u2019s responsibility, as do about nine-in-ten Democrats and Democratic leaners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large majorities in both partisan coalitions also say the government has a responsibility to provide clean air and water, reliable energy sources, and national parks and wilderness areas.<\/strong> About nine-in-ten or more Democrats say the government has a responsibility to provide each of these, compared with roughly eight-in-ten Republicans in each case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How we did this<\/summary>\n

Pew Research Center conducted this study to understand how Americans view the scope of the federal government\u2019s responsibilities. For more than three decades, the Center has regularly conducted surveys exploring Americans\u2019 attitudes about government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For this analysis, we surveyed 3,589 adults from April 7 to April 13, 2025. Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center\u2019s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Interviews were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other factors. Read more about the ATP\u2019s methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are the questions used for this analysis<\/a>, the topline<\/a> and the survey methodology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/details>\n\n\n\n

Related: <\/em><\/strong>5 facts about Americans\u2019 views of government<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wide partisan gaps on government\u2019s role in the social safety net, education<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Republicans and Democrats continue to be far apart when it comes to whether the federal government has a responsibility to provide health insurance for all Americans. Nine-in-ten Democrats say it does, while half as many Republicans (45%) say this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democrats are also 30 percentage points more likely than Republicans to say the government is responsible for providing an adequate standard of living to all Americans: 82% of Democrats and 52% of Republicans say this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And Democrats are 31 points more likely than Republicans to say the government has a responsibility to provide all Americans with adequate income in retirement (81% vs. 50%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Education<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Nine-in-ten Democrats say the federal government has a responsibility to provide high-quality K-12 education for all Americans, compared with a narrower 57% majority of Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There also are sharp differences in views of the government\u2019s role in higher education. Nearly six-in-ten Democrats (58%) say the federal government has a responsibility to provide a college education to all. A far smaller share of Republicans (22%) say this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Access to high-speed internet<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Six-in-ten Democrats say the government has a responsibility to provide access to high-speed internet for all Americans. Republicans (31%) are about half as likely to say this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing views of government responsibilities<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"Line<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Views on several of these items have shifted over the past four years, with the most pronounced changes coming among Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, the share of Americans who say the government is responsible for providing an adequate standard of living for all Americans is 11 percentage points higher than in April 2021 (67% now, 56% then).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both Republicans and Democrats have become more likely to say this. Around half of Republicans (52%) hold this view today, up 20 points from 2021, while 82% of Democrats say the same, up 6 points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans and Democrats are also both 10 points more likely than in 2021 to say the government is responsible for providing adequate income in retirement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it comes to providing health insurance, nearly seven-in-ten Americans (68%) see this as a government responsibility, up modestly from 64% in 2021. Republicans are 12 points more likely to say this than they were previously.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans are also 7 points more likely to say access to high-speed internet is a government responsibility. Overall, Americans are about as likely to say this as they were in 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By contrast, Americans have become 5 points less<\/em> likely to say high-quality K-12 education is a responsibility of the federal government. A smaller majority of Republicans now say this compared with four years ago (57% today vs. 64% then).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How views of government responsibilities relate to views of Trump administration cuts to departments and agencies<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
\"A<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Americans who see a more limited role for the federal government are particularly likely to support the Trump administration\u2019s recent cuts to departments and agencies. Those who see more responsibilities for government largely disapprove of these cuts, according to the same survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We asked the same set of respondents about seven of the 11 items included in the survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n