| Category | Count | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Too little | 5582 | 23.2 |
| Right amount | 6855 | 28.5 |
| Too much | 10617 | 44.1 |
| DK | 598 | 2.5 |
| REF | 126 | 0.5 |
| NA | 302 | 1.3 |
Public Opinion on Government Regulation
This document explores public opinion on government regulation of business in the U.S. from 2001 to 2023, using Gallup survey data. It analyzes responses to questions about whether government regulation is perceived as excessive, insufficient, or appropriate, along with demographic and political factors that may explain these perceptions.
General Overview
Filter DK, REF, and NA categories
| Category | Count | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Too little | 5582 | 24.2 |
| Right amount | 6855 | 29.7 |
| Too much | 10617 | 46.1 |
Nearly half of the respondents feel that there is too much government regulation of business. Close to a third of respondents believe the current level of regulation is appropriate. A smaller segment of the respondents thinks there is too little regulation.
Trends Over Time
From 2005 onwards, a rising trend among people believing that there is “Too much” regulation coincides with a decrease in those viewing the level as appropriate. There are further fluctuations, with declines around 2016 and again in 2020, but “Too much” remains the dominant opinion in recent years. By around 2016, the opinion that regulation was at the “Right amount” experienced a slight recovery, although it never returned to pre-2005 levels. The percentage of respondents who feel there is “Too little” regulation has remained relatively stable over time, consistently ranging between 20% and 30%.
Demographic Factors
Gender Distribution by Opinion on Government Regulation
Among respondents who believe there is “Too much” regulation, a majority (58%) are men, while 42% are women. For those who think the regulation is at the “Right amount” or “Too little,” women constitute the majority, with 53.3% in both categories, compared to 46.7% for men.
Trends Over Time
Over time, among those who believe there is “Too much” regulation, the gap between men and women was relatively stable until around 2013. After that point, a more pronounced difference emerged, with an increasing proportion of men expressing that there is too much regulation, while the proportion of women holding this view has decreased. For those who think there is “Too little” or the “Right amount” of regulation, the gender differences were more variable. Before 2015, opinions among the “Too little” and “Right amount” groups were relatively consistent, with a majority of women in both categories.Starting around 2015, these views began to fluctuate significantly, with frequent shifts in which gender held the majority opinion in each category, suggesting an unstable or shifting perspective in these groups.
Age Group Distribution by Opinion on Government Regulation
The age distribution in opinions on government regulation reveals a notable pattern. Older age groups, particularly those in the 50-69 range, are more likely to believe that there is “Too much” regulation, with around 21% of respondents in both the 50-59 and 60-69 age groups holding this view. In contrast, younger people, especially those under 50, tend to favor either “Too little” or “Right amount” of regulation, suggesting a more supportive or balanced view toward regulation.
Trends Over Time
Opinion on Government Regulation by State
Too little: This map highlights states with varying of respondents who believe that there is “Too little” regulation. Idaho stands out with the darkest shade, indicating a strong opinion (58.8%) among residents that there is “Too little” government regulation. On the other hand, Alabama and Delaware, with 27.4% in Alabama and 29.1% in Delaware, indicating a little portion of residents who believe that there is “Too little” regulation
Right amount: This map focuses on states with varying of respondents who believe that there is “Right Amount” regulation. The states with the highest percentages of respondents who believe the level of government regulation is the “Right amount” are California (39.1%), Alaska (36.4%), and Arizona (34.5%). These states have the lowest proportions of residents who feel that the current level of regulation is appropriate are Ohio (25.1), Wisconsin (26.1%), and Georgia (30.2%).
Too much: This map shows states with varying of respondents who believe that there is “Too Much” regulation. Tennessee has the highest percentage of respondents (74.4%) who think there is “Too much” government regulation, followed closely by Wyoming at 64.9%. The states with the lowest percentages of respondents who believe there is “Too much” government regulation are Hawaii (15.4%) and Idaho (15.7%).
Level of Education by Opinion on Government Regulation
Among college graduates, there is a noticeable decline in percentage from the “Too little” category (26.2%) to “Right amount” (23%) and further down to “Too much” (19.3%). For those with some college education and no high school education, there is relative stability across the categories, with only minor variations in percentages. In contrast, among the high school graduates group, we observe an increase in the percentage from “Too little” (26.5%) to “Right amount” (27.8%) and further up to “Too much” (31.6%).
Trends Over Time
Race Distribution by Opinion on Government Regulation
Among those who think there is “Too much” regulation, a majority (85.9%) are Non-Hispanic White, while 14.1% are Non-White. This trend is less vivid in the “Right amount” category but still significant, with 78.3% of Non-Hispanic Whites and 21.7% of Non-Whites. In contrast, in the “Too little” category, Non-Hispanic Whites still make up the majority at 73%, while a higher percentage of Non-Whites at 27% compared to the other categories. ### Trends Over Time
For each opinion category — “Too little,” “Right amount,” and “Too much” regulation — the gap between Non-Hispanic Whites (in red) and Non-Whites (in orange) appears to gradually narrow. This is particularly visible in the “Right amount” and “Too much” categories, where the percentages of Non-Hispanic Whites and Non-Whites show a slow but steady movement toward convergence.
##Religious Attendance by Opinion on Government Regulation
Among those who seldom or never attend religious services, there is a decline in percentage as the opinion shifts from “Too little” to “Too much”: 56.6% in the “Too little” group falls to 42.8% in the “Too much” group.In contrast, for those who attend religious services weekly, there is an increase from 22.3% in the “Too little” category to 32.9% in the “Too much”. The “Nearly weekly/monthly” group remains relatively stable, showing only a moderate increase across the categories, with values of 21%, 23.8%, and 24.3%.
Trends Over Time
Over time, among those who seldom or never attend religious services, there is a clear increase in the proportion of respondents in both the “Too little” and “Right amount” categories. There is also a relatively small increase in the “Too much” category for this group. In the other groups (“Weekly” and “Nearly weekly/monthly”), there is a gradual decline in all three categories over the years.
Employment Distribution by Opinion on Government Regulation
The distribution of employment status across opinions on government regulation appears quite stable. For each opinion category (“Too little,” “Right amount,” and “Too much”), the proportions of those “Employed full/part-time” and “Not currently working” remain similar.
Trends Over Time
In terms of trends, the differences between employment statuses were relatively clear before 2008-2010, with a more distinct separation between those employed full/part-time and those not currently working. However, after that period, the lines began to converge across all opinion categories (“Too little,” “Right amount,” and “Too much”).
Income Distribution by Opinion on Government Regulation
Trends Over Time
Political Factors
Party Affiliation by Opinion on Government Regulation
Democrats tend to support less regulation, as seen by their majority in the “Too little” category (76.5%) and their strong presence in the “Right amount” category (55.3%). In contrast, Republicans show a clear tendency to view current regulations as excessive, with 68.8% in the “Too much” category and a smaller portion in the “Right amount” category (39%) and “Too little” category (17.9%). Independents remain relatively stable across categories, with a minor representation in each opinion group.
Trends Over Time
Over time, in the extreme categories—either “Too little” or “Too much” regulation—Republicans and Democrats have increasingly moved to more polarized positions. Republicans’ perception of “Too much” regulation has grown, while Democrats’ support for “Too little” regulation has similarly increased. In contrast, for respondents who feel the level of government regulation is “Right amount,” the trend is highly variable, with fluctuations between Democrats and Republicans taking the lead over the years.
Ideology by Opinion on Government Regulation
Conservatives are notably less likely to feel that there is “Too little” regulation, with only 17.8% holding this view, but the majority (57.2%) believe there is “Too much” regulation. Liberals, in contrast, are the most likely to think that regulation is lacking, with 42.4% in the “Too little” category, and they are the least likely to feel there is “Too much” regulation (9.7%). Moderates tend to favor the “Right amount” category, with 46.1% believing the level of regulation is appropriate. However, a significant portion of moderates (39.8%) also think there is “Too little” regulation, and 33.1% feel there is “Too much”.
Trends Over Time
Over time, conservatives show a decreasing trend in the “Too little” category, while their representation in the “Too much” category has increased. Similarly, liberals are also increasingly represented in the “Too little” category, while their presence in “Too much” remains low. Moderates, on the other hand, appear relatively stable across categories over time. The “Right amount” category, however, shows variability, with shifts between conservatives and liberals.
Trust in Executive Branch and Opinion on Government Regulation
Among those who believe there is “Too much” regulation, the majority of respondents with low or no trust in the executive branch (32.2%) are more likely to feel that regulation is excessive, and overall, trust in the executive branch is inversely related to the perception of regulation. For those who view the regulation level as “Right amount”,“A fair amount” of trust represents the highest proportion (34.6%), and generally, trust in the executive branch rises. In the “Too little” category, there is variability in trust levels. However, respondents with “None at all” trust form a significant portion (28.9%), indicating a mix of perspectives in this group.
Trends Over Time
Over the years, in the “Too much” regulation category, individuals with “None at all” trust have increasingly dominated since around 2015. For the “Right amount” category, trust levels are more variable over time, with no clear dominance of any one trust level. In the “Too little” category, trust levels vary widely, with occasional spikes.
Trust in Legislative Branch and Opinion on Government Regulation
This graph shows that trust in the legislative branch is relatively consistent across opinion categories on government regulation. Across all categories—Too little, Right amount, and Too much—the majority of responses fall into the “Not very much” or “A fair amount” trust levels. The main difference is a slight flip between these two levels in each category: in the Too little and too much categories, “A fair amount” constitute the majority of responses, while in the right amount category “Not very much”.
Trends Over Time
The distribution of trust in the judicial branch is relatively similar across the opinion categories on government regulation. In each category—Too little, Right amount, and Too much—“A fair amount” of trust is the predominant response, followed by “Not very much”, “A great deal”, and “None at all”.
Trust in Judicial Branch and Opinion on Government Regulation
Trends Over Time
Satisfaction with Government by Opinion on Government Regulation
In this graph, dissatisfaction with government is prominent among respondents who believe there is either too much or too little regulation, with around 71% expressing dissatisfaction in both categories. In contrast, those who think the level of regulation is the right amount display a more balanced view, with satisfaction (51.8%) slightly outweighing dissatisfaction (48.2%).
Trends Over Time
In this figure, there is an interesting dynamic in satisfaction and dissatisfaction trends over time. In some years, the gap between satisfaction and dissatisfaction within each opinion category (Too Little, Right Amount, Too Much) narrows significantly, indicating a more balanced or even sentiment. However, in other years, the gap widens sharply, with one sentiment strongly outweighing the other.
Presidential Approval by Opinion on Government Regulation
In this graph, those who approve of the president tend to align with the view that the regulation level is “Right amount” (57.9%), followed by “Too little” (46.1%), and lastly, “Too much” (38.7%). Conversely, among those who disapprove of the president, the majority believe there is “Too much” regulation (61.3%), followed by “Too little” (53.9%), with the least agreement on “Right amount” (42.1%).
Trends Over Time
This graph highlights the fluctuations in presidential approval and its relationship with opinions on government regulation over time. For each category—Too little, Right amount, and Too much—there is noticeable fluctuation, indicating that perspectives on regulation and presidential approval ratings have not remained stable.