--- description: For the fourth month in a row, Americans have voted that they the government is the biggest problem currently facing the country. title: Americans Think Government Is Their Biggest Problem image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08d2976d8ac498d7/69876f93f887dc0570e8919a/capitol-building.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Government](/tag/government/) ## Government Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Americans Still Think Government Is Their Biggest Problem, Poll Shows  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 12, 2015 5:15 PM CUT  Capitol Building, Washington D.C. USA Capitol Building, Washington D.C. USAGetty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Mar 12, 2015 5:15 PM CUT For the fourth month in a row, Americans have voted that the government is the biggest problem currently facing the United States. According to a [recent Gallup poll](http://www.gallup.com/poll/181946/americans-name-government-no-problem.aspx "undefined"), 18% of Americans surveyed named the government as the most important U.S. problem, followed by 11% who named the economy in general and 10% who said unemployment. These beat out terrorism, ISIS and race relations on the survey. Despite concerns about the government, 31% of Americans surveyed said they were satisfied with the direction of the country, well above its low of 7% in late 2008 during the economic crisis. _Read next:_ [_How Mexican Immigration to the U.S. Has Evolved_](http://time.com/3742067/history-mexican-immigration/?iid=time%5Freadnext "undefined") [_Listen to the most important stories of the day._](http://time.com/newsletter/the-brief/?sl%5Fautoplay=true&xid=spl-fullbrief-article "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3742760/americans-poll-government-problem/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3742760/americans-poll-government-problem/"},"headline":"Americans Still Think Government Is Their Biggest Problem, Poll Shows","datePublished":"2015-03-12T17:15:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T05:07:37.545Z","description":"More than terrorism, ISIS and race relations","url":"https://time.com/3742760/americans-poll-government-problem/","keywords":["Government"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08d2976d8ac498d7/69876f93f887dc0570e8919a/capitol-building.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt08d2976d8ac498d7/69876f93f887dc0570e8919a/capitol-building.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"capitol-building","caption":"capitol-building","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/government/","name":"Government"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3742760/americans-poll-government-problem/","name":"Americans Still Think Government Is Their Biggest Problem, Poll Shows"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"A History Of The Minimum Wage","description":"See who raised the minimum wage and when throughout history.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KFNoRaXc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-02-28T17:21:00.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KFNoRaXc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3742760/americans-poll-government-problem/","duration":"PT3M56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3742760/americans-poll-government-problem/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```