The majority of voters nationwide (53%) says they favor a smaller government with fewer services, while 28% favor a larger government with many services.  Although the preference for a smaller government has decreased slightly since 2006 (59%/28%), voters still favor a smaller government by a ratio of two to one.

 

Republican voters are more likely than Democratic voters to favor a smaller government.  The overwhelming majority of Republicans (78%/11%), McCain voters (80%/9%) and those who voted for the Republican candidate for U.S. Congress (79%/12%) favors a smaller government.  Conversely, a plurality of Democrats (33%/46%), Obama voters (29%/46%) and those who voted for the Democratic candidate for Congress (32%/44%) favors a larger government.  Among Independent voters, 54% favor a smaller government.

 

Six in ten white voters (61%) favor a smaller government, while half of African American voters (50%) favor a larger government.  Hispanic voters are evenly divided with 38% favoring a smaller government and 39% favoring a larger government.  Men (59%/26%), voters over age 55 (57%/21%) and those with savings of more than $5,000 (57%/26%) are more likely to prefer a smaller government than women (48%/31%), voters under age 55 (51%/34) and those with savings of less than $5,000 (47%/34%).

 

	Total	11/06	11/04	11/02	11/00	11/98	11/96	11/94
Smaller Government	53	59	49	61	58	63	63	68
Larger Government	28	28	37	27	28	28	26	21
DK/Refused	19	13	14	12	14	10	11	11

Region	New England	Middle Atlantic	East North Central	West North Central	South Atlantic	East South Central	West South Central	Mountain	Pacific
Smaller Government	41	45	53	61	51	60	66	57	52
Larger Government	35	38	29	21	29	22	21	28	26
DK/Refused	25	17	18	18	21	18	13	16	23

Party/Ideology	Rep.	Dem.	Ind.	Lib.	Mod.	Cons.
Smaller Government	78	33	54	25	46	78
Larger Government	11	46	22	57	29	12
DK/Refused	11	22	23	19	25	10

Vote for President/ Congress	McCain	Obama	Other	Rep. Congress	Dem. Congress	Other	Didn’t Vote
Smaller Government	80	29	66	79	32	73	51
Larger Government	9	46	8	12	44	8	11
DK/Refused	11	25	26	10	25	18	38

Race/Gender	White	African American	Hispanic	Men	Women
Smaller Government	61	24	38	59	48
Larger Government	23	50	39	26	31
DK/Refused	16	26	22	15	22

Income/Savings Over $5,000	Under $20,000	$20,000-$40,000	$40,000-$60,000	$60,000-$100,000	Over $100,000	Yes Savings $5,000+	No Savings $5,000+
Smaller Government	50	50	57	54	57	57	47
Larger Government	28	32	26	28	27	26	34
DK/Refused	23	18	17	18	16	17	19

Age	18-25	26-40	41-55	56-65	Over 65	Under 55	Over 55
Smaller Government	35	49	54	55	59	51	57
Larger Government	58	39	29	25	18	34	21
DK/Refused	7	13	18	20	23	15	22

Methodology: