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Attitudes Toward State Government Even at a time when many are expressing optimism about the direction of the state and the economy, many Orange County residents are still expressing doubts about the performance of their state government. Only three in 10 say they trust the state government to do what is right just about always or most of the time, while six in 10 trust their lawmakers in Sacramento only some of the time. Just prior to the October recall election, Californians’ trust in their state government reached its lowest level since we first asked about this issue in January 1999: In September, only 27 percent said that they trusted the government in Sacramento to do what is right just about always or most of the time, compared to 47 percent in our statewide survey in January 2002. We found low levels of trust in state government across both the North and South County regions and among most of the major demographic categories. Trust in state government tends to decline with age, education, income, and homeownership. Latinos (52%) are more likely than whites (21%), and immigrants (47%) are more likely than U.S.-born residents (24%), to say they trust the state government to do what is right just about always or most of the time. Likely voters are even more inclined than all adults to express a lack of confidence in the state government. As for political differences, Democrats (31%), Republicans (23%), and liberals (38%) are more likely than conservatives (29%) to say they trust the government to do what is right just about always or most of the time. We found the highest level of trust among those who are not registered to vote: Nearly half (46%) say the state government does what is right just about always or most of the time.
“In general, which of the following statements do you agree
with more:
Given the backdrop of distrust in Sacramento, what type of state government do Orange County residents prefer? A majority of residents say they want a smaller state government with lower taxes and fewer services, while 38 percent want a larger government with higher taxes and more services. In contrast, Californians were closely divided on this question in our September statewide survey. There is a partisan divide in Orange County on this question: Seventy-five percent of Republicans and 60 percent of independents prefer paying lower taxes and having fewer services, while 51 percent of Democrats would prefer paying higher taxes and having more services. Among likely voters, 63 percent would opt for lower taxes and fewer state services, while among those not registered to vote, 58 percent would prefer to pay higher taxes and have more services. There are also stark differences in preferences for the role of state government across groups that could be roughly divided into the “haves” and “have nots” of Orange County. Specifically, Latinos, immigrants, renters, and the youngest, less-educated, and lower-income residents say they prefer paying higher taxes to support a larger government with more services. By contrast, whites, the U.S.-born, homeowners, and the oldest, more-educated, and higher-income residents say they would rather pay lower taxes and have a smaller government. Residents with children at home are also more likely than others to prefer higher taxes and a larger government.
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