Changing Public Attitudes on Power and Taxation in the American Federal System

The research reported here updates for 2001 some public opinion data previously provided by the U. S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations. The 2001 survey results indicate a general continuation of earlier opinion trends. The federal government is viewed as providing citizens the least for their money; the federal income lax, followed by the local properly tax, is seen as the worst lax; a majority of the public indicates that local governments need more power; the public is most likely to identify the federal government as having too much power; and the public is least likely to say that the federal government needs more power. For the most part, these attitudes are held without much variation by all categories of respondents; however, region, education, and, to a lesser extent, a few other demographic variables do distinguish among respondents in a statistically significant manner. Copyright , Oxford University Press.