Americans are less satisfied in their dealings with federal agencies than they have been in eight years, the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has found, and their satisfaction level has fallen for the third year in a row, CBS News reports.
The findings, based on surveys conducted with more than 2,000 people late last year, are linked to a decline in Americans’ “confidence and trust” in the government, said Forrest Morgeson, ACSI’s research director. “It’s much more difficult to govern if the entire population dislikes you,” Morgeson said.
ACSI’s findings mirror those of Gallup, which has documented a long-term downward trend in Americans’ trust in government. They also track with polls by Gallup and Rasmussen, which reported this week, respectively, that only four in 10 Americans view the nation’s current situation as positive, and that nearly two-thirds of U.S. voters believe the U.S. is heading in the wrong direction.