The ANES Guide to Public Opinion and Electoral Behavior
Do People in Government Waste Tax Money 1958-2016
| '58 | '60 | '62 | '64 | '66 | '68 | '70 | '72 | '74 | '76 | '78 | '80 | '82 | '84 | '86 | '88 | '90 | '92 | '94 | '96 | '98 | '00 | '02 | '04 | '08 | '12 | '16 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A Lot | 43 (769) |
** | ** | 47 (679) |
** | 59 (793) |
69 (1034) |
66 (1502) |
74 (1862) |
74 (2119) |
77 (1767) |
78 (1258) |
66 (923) |
65 (1244) |
** | 63 (1112) |
67 (1305) |
67 (1514) |
70 (1239) |
59 (885) |
61 (782) |
59 (902) |
48 (624) |
61 (643) |
72 (1523) |
71 (4168) |
71 (3022) |
| Some | 42 (752) |
** | ** | 44 (639) |
** | 34 (461) |
26 (396) |
30 (686) |
22 (562) |
20 (571) |
19 (431) |
18 (282) |
29 (408) |
29 (566) |
** | 33 (583) |
30 (592) |
30 (668) |
27 (483) |
39 (590) |
34 (439) |
38 (588) |
49 (642) |
37 (388) |
26 (542) |
26 (1533) |
25 (1055) |
| Not Very Much | 10 (183) |
** | ** | 7 (95) |
** | 4 (55) |
4 (54) |
2 (53) |
1 (34) |
3 (82) |
2 (38) |
2 (32) |
2 (32) |
4 (69) |
** | 2 (43) |
2 (37) |
2 (41) |
2 (34) |
1 (22) |
4 (45) |
3 (39) |
3 (43) |
2 (21) |
1 (30) |
3 (178) |
4 (166) |
| Don't Know | 4 (70) |
** | ** | 2 (34) |
** | 3 (34) |
1 (18) |
2 (41) |
2 (57) |
3 (94) |
2 (55) |
2 (35) |
3 (40) |
2 (41) |
** | 2 (30) |
1 (28) |
1 (26) |
1 (13) |
0 (3) |
1 (12) |
1 (12) |
0 (2) |
1 (8) |
1 (14) |
0 (24) |
0 (4) |
| N | 1774 | 0 | 0 | 1447 | 0 | 1343 | 1502 | 2282 | 2515 | 2866 | 2291 | 1607 | 1403 | 1920 | 0 | 1768 | 1962 | 2249 | 1769 | 1500 | 1278 | 1541 | 1311 | 1060 | 2109 | 5903 | 4247 |
Percentage Within Study Year
Table 5A.3.
Question Text:
"Do you think that people in the government waste a lot of money we pay in taxes, waste some of it, or don't waste very much of it?"
Percent among demographic groups who responded:
Note:
2012 and 2016 data are for the combined (face-to-face and internet) sample.
For 2012, the 'Don't Know/Other' category represents face-to-face Don't Know cases only (in the 2012 Web instrument, a Don't Know category was not present).
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