[[{"fid":"7505","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"style":"height: 299px; width: 200px; float: right; margin: 10px 20px;","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]

Americans’ relationship to the federal government is paradoxical. Public opinion regarding the government has plummeted to all-time lows, with only one in five saying they trust the government or believe that it operates in their interest. Yet, more Americans than ever benefit from some form of government social provision. Political scientist Suzanne Mettler calls this growing gulf between people’s perceptions of government and the actual role it plays in their lives the “government-citizen disconnect.” In her new RSF book The Government-Citizen Disconnect, she explores the rise of this paradox and its implications for policymaking and politics.

Drawing from  a survey which probed Americans’ experiences with 21 federal social policies—such as food stamps, Social Security, Medicaid, and the home mortgage interest deduction—Mettler shows that 96 percent of adults have received benefits from at least one of them, and that the average person has benefited from five. However, being a beneficiary has little positive effect on people’s attitudes towards government. Mettler finds that shared identities and group affiliations are more powerful and consistent influences. In particular, people who oppose welfare tend to extrapolate their unfavorable views of it to government in general. Patterns of political participation further exacerbate the government-citizen disconnect, as those holding positive views of federal programs have lower rates of involvement with these policies than those holding more hostile views. As a result, the loudest political voice belongs to those who benefit from social policies but give government little credit for their economic well-being, seeing their success more as a matter of their own deservingness. Research from The Government-Citizen Disconnecthas been profiled in Pacific Standard and cited by the New York Times, SF Gate, and the Washington Post. 

Read more or purchase a copy of the book.