For the second consecutive year, dissatisfaction with government edged out the economy as the problem more Americans identified as the nation’s top problem in 2015, Gallup says.
According to Gallup’s latest monthly measure of the most important problem facing the U.S., released this morning, an average of 16% of Americans in 2015 mentioned some aspect of government—including President Barack Obama, Congress or political conflict—as the country’s chief problem. The economy came in second, with 13% mentioning it, while unemployment and immigration tied for third at 8%.
Although the economy and unemployment both made the top four in 2015, the average percentages mentioning them are down from 2014 and well below the levels recorded from 2009 through 2013.
Notably, 2015 was the first year since 2007 in which immigration was one of the top four most frequently cited problems, although this is mainly because mentions of health care dropped from 10% in 2014 to 6% in 2015, making room for immigration at the top. Mentions of immigration held steady in 2015 at 8%. Rounding out the top 10 were a constellation of problems each averaging 5%, including ethical/moral decline, race relations/racism, terrorism, the federal budget deficit or debt and education.
2015 marks only the second time since 2001 that no single issue averaged 20% or more for the year. However, 34% of Americans named at least one of several specific economic issues—including the economy, unemployment, the budget deficit, inflation and others.
“This lack of a prominent public concern provides an interesting setup to the 2016 presidential election,” Gallup concludes. “Some Americans remain most worried about the economy; others are mainly concerned about immigration, and others are divided across a host of domestic policy concerns. This contrasts with the last three presidential election cycles when at least one issue commanded significant public attention in the year prior to the election.”
