U.S. Public's Satisfaction With Their Freedom Is Declining

This is not a good thing for a democracy -- that the level of satisfaction with the freedoms the public has is declining. And not by a little bit, but by a significant margin -- about 12 points just since 2006 (the first year the Gallup Poll began polling on this question). In a well-run democracy, the people's level of happiness in their freedoms should be consistently high.

Now some of you may think that 79% is still pretty good. I would disagree. That just puts the United States in 36th place among the world's countries -- meaning there are 35 other countries where a higher percentage of citizens are satisfied with their level of freedom. That's a pretty poor ranking for a country that prides itself on being a democratic beacon for the rest of the world. (The country with the citizens most satisfied with their freedom is New Zealand at 94%.)

It shouldn't really be too surprising though. How can people be proud of their freedom when they know their government is conducting a massive spying operation on its citizens, and when they know that the economy has been tilted to favor the rich at the expense of everyone else?

And the chart below shows a third reason that could be having an effect. A significant majority (79%) thinks corruption is widespread in our government -- a 20 point rise in the last 8 years (since 2006). And amazingly, Congress just did something that is sure to convince Americans they are right in that belief. Instead of trying to be more open in their financial dealings to get the public to have more faith in their elected officials, Congress has just quietly moved to make it harder for the public to know what perks (bribes?) their officials are getting.

The Congressional Ethics Committee has ruled that members of Congress no longer have to list on their financial statements the trips they take that are paid for by others. Last year there were 1,900 trips at a cost of $6 million. Although disguised as "fact-finding" missions, these trips are usually nothing more than all-expense-paid vacations -- and they should be reported on financial statements so the public can know what their elected officials are receiving (and from whom).

The charts above were made with figures from the Gallup Poll.