GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- The public's approval of the job the U.S. Congress is doing has averaged 52% this year, which -- while seemingly not high in absolute terms -- is the highest yearly average recorded by The Gallup Poll since 1974, when the current measure was begun.
Here is the basic trend:
| Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job? |
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Ratings of Congress have never been high in historical terms, and have not varied as much as the other major approval measure Gallup tracks, presidential job approval. The latter, for example, reached as high as 89% in 1991 (just after the Persian Gulf War). At the same time, no individual congressional job approval rating has ever been above 60% in the over 25 years Gallup has been measuring Congress in this fashion. At the other end of the spectrum, ratings of Congress have reached as low as 18%, while the single lowest rating for a U.S. president -- recorded by Harry Truman in 1952 -- has been 22%. In short, the American people have never been overwhelmingly positive about the job their elected representatives in Congress are doing, and in over 25 years, a dominant majority of Americans have never been willing to say they approve of the job being done by their Congress.
Thus, given this context of historic negativity toward Congress, it appears quite significant that this year, on average, over half of Americans have been willing to say "approve" when asked about their Congress.
In 1974, The Gallup Poll first began asking Americans to give the same type of approve/disapprove reaction to Congress that had been asked in reference to the president since the 1930s. (Congress received an average approval rating of 32% that year). One of Congress' lowest yearly averages came in 1979, at a time when almost all of Gallup's measures -- including presidential job approval and satisfaction with the way things are going in the United States -- were similarly low (this was a time of high inflation and gas shortages). During the 1980s, in Reagan's second term, congressional job ratings rose to the low 40% range, but fell quickly during Bush the elder's administration and the first Clinton term. By 1997, the average congressional job approval for the year was 36%. In 1998, Congress' job approval moved up to 47%, then dropped slightly in 1999, rose again to 49% in 2000 and so far this year, as noted, has averaged 52%.
Congress' Job Approval Has Risen Even as Other "Mood" Measures Have Dropped This Year
The rise in Congress' job approval this year is perhaps even more significant when it is juxtaposed against the fact that most other measures of Americans' mood are down.
Gallup's overall measure of the percentage of Americans willing to say they are satisfied with the way things are going in the United States, for example, has been falling along with overall ratings of the economy so far this year -- particularly compared to the high points of the 1998-2000 time frame. As the following graph shows, ratings of Congress have slightly exceeded overall satisfaction ratings for the most part this year, a significant departure from previous years:
| Congressional Job Approval and Satisfaction With the Way Things Are Going in the United States |
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Indeed, the usual pattern over the past 20 years has been for the public's general satisfaction levels to exceed its job approval ratings of Congress. The only exceptions to this pattern happened during a couple of years when Ronald Reagan first became president, and once in 1995, when the two measures were essentially equal.
There are many possible explanations for this relative uptick in the public's rating of Congress over the last several years. The increase in congressional job approval in 1998 generally accompanied a significant rise in a number of mood measures during that year, including satisfaction with the way things were going in the United States, Bill Clinton's job approval ratings and ratings of the economy. The fascinating fact, of course, was that 1998 was dominated by the Bill Clinton-Monica Lewinsky crisis, including the congressional investigation and actions that ultimately culminated in the House vote to impeach the president. At the same time, President Clinton's State of the Union speech in January 1998 seemed, in some respects, to underscore the positive state of affairs in the country at that time. Some observers have hypothesized that the attention placed on Bill Clinton's personal and ethical failures actually created a "contrast effect" that highlighted, in relative fashion, his non-personal achievements. In short, congressional job approval, to some degree, probably rose in concert with a general lifting of the mood of America in 1998.
Could Congress have begun receiving higher overall job approval ratings precisely because it was doing its constitutional duty and as a result receiving an extremely extensive amount of visibility and publicity? It is possible, but a close look at 1998 shows that job approval ratings for Congress were actually highest in the beginning months of the year and fell during the later months when the most dramatic impeachment action was taking place. Additionally, of course, it is important to remember that almost all polling at the time of impeachment showed that over 60% of Americans did not agree with the House of Representatives' decision to impeach Clinton. This was despite the fact that the public agreed with the House charges that Clinton had had sexual relations with Lewinsky in the White House and had lied about it publicly.
Additionally, the theory that congressional approval rises and falls mostly in tune with the general mood of America does not explain why it has gone up, rather than down, this year. Perhaps the new bipartisanship represented by the change of the Senate to Democratic control, while the House remains Republican, may have contributed to a higher aggregate level of approval of Congress, but the highest ratings of Congress this year have come in February, March, and April -- before the switch in Senate control.
Survey Methods
These results are based on telephone interviews with randomly selected national samples of at least 1,000 adults, 18 years and older, conducted in the years 1974 through 2001. The latest poll was conducted June 11-17, 2001 with a randomly selected sample of 1,004 national adults 18 years and older. For results based on most of the samples included in the analysis above, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?
|
Approve |
Disapprove |
No opinion |
|
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
|||
|
National Adults |
51 |
34 |
15 |
|
Men |
55 |
34 |
11 |
|
Women |
47 |
35 |
18 |
|
Non-Hispanic Whites |
51 |
34 |
15 |
|
Blacks |
50 |
38 |
12 |
|
Hispanics |
55 |
32 |
13 |
NATIONAL ADULT TREND
|
|
|
|
No |
Ap- |
|
No |
||
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|||
|
2001 |
1995 |
|||||||
|
2001 Jun 11-17 |
51 |
34 |
15 |
1995 Sep 22-24 |
30 |
61 |
9 |
|
|
2001 May 10-14 |
49 |
34 |
17 |
1995 Aug 28-30 |
30 |
60 |
10 |
|
|
2001 Apr 6-8 |
55 |
32 |
13 |
1995 Jul 7-9 |
35 |
55 |
10 |
|
|
2001 Mar 5-7 |
55 |
28 |
17 |
1995 May 11-14 |
34 |
57 |
9 |
|
|
2001 Feb 1-4 |
53 |
32 |
15 |
1995 Apr 17-19 |
37 |
54 |
9 |
|
|
2001 Jan 10-14 |
50 |
40 |
10 |
1995 Mar 27-29 |
31 |
61 |
8 |
|
|
2000 |
1995 Mar 17-19 |
32 |
59 |
9 |
||||
|
2000 Dec 2-4 |
56 |
34 |
10 |
1995 Feb 24-26 |
35 |
53 |
12 |
|
|
2000 Oct 6-9 |
49 |
42 |
9 |
1995 Feb 3-5 |
38 |
53 |
9 |
|
|
2000 Aug 29-Sep 5 |
48 |
42 |
10 |
1995 Jan 16-18 |
33 |
52 |
15 |
|
|
2000 May 18-21 |
39 |
52 |
9 |
1994 |
||||
|
2000 Jan 7-10 |
51 |
42 |
7 |
1994 Dec 28-30 |
23 |
66 |
11 |
|
|
1999 |
1994 Oct 22-25 |
23 |
70 |
7 |
||||
|
1999 Sep 23-26 |
37 |
56 |
7 |
1994 Oct 7-9 |
21 |
73 |
6 |
|
|
1999 Jul 13-14 |
39 |
51 |
10 |
1994 Jul 15-17 |
27 |
65 |
8 |
|
|
1999 Jun 11-13 |
41 |
53 |
6 |
1994 Mar 25-27 |
29 |
63 |
8 |
|
|
1999 Apr 13-14 |
45 |
47 |
8 |
1994 Feb 26-28 |
28 |
66 |
6 |
|
|
1999 Feb 12-13 |
41 |
54 |
5 |
1993 |
||||
|
1999 Jan 15-17 |
50 |
46 |
4 |
1993 Nov 2-4 |
24 |
69 |
8 |
|
|
1998 |
1993 Aug 8-10 |
23 |
69 |
8 |
||||
|
1998 Dec 15-16 |
42 |
52 |
6 |
1993 Jul 19-21 |
24 |
65 |
11 |
|
|
1998 Nov 13-15 |
41 |
54 |
5 |
1993 Feb 26-28 |
27 |
54 |
19 |
|
|
1998 Oct 29-Nov 1 |
44 |
47 |
9 |
1992 |
||||
|
1998 Oct 9-12 |
47 |
46 |
7 |
1992 Mar 3 ^ |
18 |
78 |
3 |
|
|
1998 Oct 6-7 |
44 |
48 |
8 |
1991 |
||||
|
1998 Sep 11-12 |
55 |
36 |
9 |
1991 Oct 10-13 |
40 |
54 |
6 |
|
|
1998 May 8-10 |
44 |
48 |
8 |
1991 Jul 25-28 |
32 |
53 |
15 |
|
|
1998 Apr 17-19 |
49 |
40 |
11 |
1990 |
||||
|
1998 Feb 13-15 |
57 |
33 |
10 |
1990 Nov 2-4 |
26 |
63 |
11 |
|
|
1998 Jan 30-Feb 1 |
56 |
35 |
9 |
1990 Oct 25-28 |
24 |
68 |
8 |
|
|
1998 Jan 16-18 |
42 |
47 |
11 |
1990 Oct 18-21 |
23 |
64 |
13 |
|
|
1997 |
1990 Oct 11-14 |
28 |
65 |
7 |
||||
|
1997 Dec 18-21 |
39 |
52 |
9 |
1988 |
||||
|
1997 Oct 27-29 |
36 |
53 |
11 |
1988 Sep 9-11 |
42 |
42 |
16 |
|
|
1997 Aug 22-25 |
41 |
48 |
11 |
1987 |
||||
|
1997 Jul 25-27 |
34 |
57 |
9 |
1987 Aug 24-Sep 2 |
42 |
49 |
9 |
|
|
1997 May 6-7 |
32 |
58 |
10 |
1986 |
||||
|
1997 Apr 18-20 |
30 |
59 |
11 |
1986 Apr 11-14 |
42 |
37 |
21 |
|
|
1997 Feb 24-26 |
37 |
48 |
15 |
1983 |
||||
|
1997 Jan 31-Feb 2 |
36 |
51 |
13 |
1983 Apr 29-May 2 |
33 |
43 |
24 |
|
|
1997 Jan 10-13 |
41 |
49 |
10 |
1982 |
||||
|
1996 |
1982 Jun 11-14 |
29 |
54 |
17 |
||||
|
1996 Oct 26-29 |
34 |
51 |
15 |
1981 |
||||
|
1996 Aug 5-7 |
39 |
49 |
12 |
1981 Jun 19-22 |
38 |
40 |
22 |
|
|
1996 May 9-12 |
30 |
65 |
5 |
1980 |
||||
|
1996 Apr 9-10 |
35 |
57 |
8 |
1980 Jun 13-16 |
25 |
56 |
19 |
|
Approve |
|
No |
|
|
1979 |
|||
|
1979 Jun 1-4 |
19 |
61 |
20 |
|
1978 |
|||
|
1978 Sep 8-11 |
29 |
49 |
22 |
|
1977 |
|||
|
1977 Sep 9-12 |
35 |
44 |
21 |
|
1977 Aug 5-8 |
36 |
44 |
20 |
|
1977 Jun 3-6 |
34 |
42 |
24 |
|
1977 May 20-23 |
40 |
40 |
20 |
|
1977 Mar 25-28 |
36 |
42 |
22 |
|
1976 |
|||
|
1976 Jan 23-26 |
24 |
58 |
18 |
|
1975 |
|||
|
1975 Oct 31-Nov 3 |
28 |
54 |
18 |
|
1975 Jun 27-30 |
29 |
54 |
17 |
|
1975 Apr 18-21 |
38 |
48 |
14 |
|
1975 Feb 28-Mar 3 |
32 |
50 |
18 |
|
1974 |
|||
|
1974 Oct 11-14 |
35 |
43 |
22 |
|
1974 Aug 16-19 |
30 |
47 |
23 |
|
1974 Apr 12-15 |
30 |
47 |
23 |
|
^ Gallup/Newsweek |
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