Almost 1/2 Americans think of government as ‘immediate threat’

The Gallup poll, whose results were released Monday, shows 49 percent of the US citizens think of the government as "an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens."
 
The latest results, covering the period between September 9 and 13, demonstrate a rise.
 
The percentage stood at 30 in 2003 but rose to 44 by 2006 and then reached the range of 46 to 49 in four surveys conducted since 2010, according to the poll.
 
“The remarkable finding about these attitudes is how much they reflect apparent antipathy toward the party controlling the White House, rather than being a purely fundamental or fixed philosophical attitude about government,” Gallup said.
 
“Overall, Americans who agree that the government is an immediate threat tend to respond with very general complaints echoing the theme that the federal government is too big and too powerful, and that it has too many laws. They also cite nonspecific allegations that the government violates freedoms and civil liberties, and that there is too much government in people's private lives,” it added.
 
Earlier this month, a YouGov poll found that 29 percent of people in the US could imagine supporting a military coup against the government.