Political Science Discussion 1

What do Americans think about the government

For your first Discussions posting I want you to think about how your fellow Americans think about the government.  In Chapter 1 of the textbook there are brief articles on how much trust and confidence people have in the government, and how many worries people have about the size of government and complaints people have in general about government. 

Using these sections of the chapter – Can You Trust the Government? (pg. 7), Is Government Growing Too Big? (pg. 10), Confidence in American Institutions(pg.19) and Complaints About the American Political System (pg. 22) – please answer the following questions:

• How much do you think Americans trust their government and its institutions now compared to the past?
• What does the growth in size over time have to do with how much people trust the government?
• People seem to complain more about the government now more than ever. What are the problems associated with having large numbers of Americans concerned about the government’s power and effectiveness?

I expect you to write a solid two to three paragraphs making reference to the sections in the book I’ve referred you to in order to be successful.  I’m asking for your point of view, but I want you to use the information you find in the book to back up your answers the questions.