{"id":37813,"date":"2023-05-30T16:24:44","date_gmt":"2023-05-30T20:24:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/?p=37813"},"modified":"2023-06-02T13:29:28","modified_gmt":"2023-06-02T17:29:28","slug":"public-perceptions-of-civil-servants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourpublicservice.org\/blog\/public-perceptions-of-civil-servants\/","title":{"rendered":"Public perceptions of civil servants: A breakdown based on political affiliation and age"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

To gain a better understanding of the public\u2019s views of government and civil servants, we conducted two nationally representative surveys\u2014one in 2021 that became the basis for our first trust in government report<\/a><\/ins> and another in 2022\u2014with its major findings published here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both times, we were pleased to find that a majority of people in the U.S. have a positive view of nonelected government officials\u2014who make up most of the federal workforce\u2014despite low levels of trust in government as a whole. Our most recent data, for example, shows that 62% of respondents view civil servants favorably, while only 19% have more negative views.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, this data reveals some surprising findings based on political affiliation and age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Views based on political affiliation<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

First, while we continue to find a large difference between Democrats and Republicans when it comes to perceptions of government as a whole\u201452% of Democrats indicate they trust the government but only 23% of Republicans do\u2014the partisan divide is significantly smaller on perceptions of civil servants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nearly three-quarters\u201474%\u2014of Democrats say they have a favorable opinion of them, and 60% of Republicans agree.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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