On Economy, Republicans Trust Business; Dems Trust Gov’t.PRINCETON, NJ -- While 64% of Republicans say they place more trust in businesses to solve the nation's economic problems, 72% of Democrats say they trust the government more, underscoring the enormous philosophical divide in the way Republicans and Democrats view the government's role in solving the country's economic problems.
The findings from the March 5-8 Gallup Poll show that the sharply differing opinions of Republican versus Democratic elected representatives in Washington reflect the same type of partisan divide among rank-and-file Americans.
The Democratic president and the Democratic-controlled Congress have taken extraordinary actions to fix the economy over the last month or two, presumably under the assumption that government intervention is the only way to pull the country out of the current economic slump. These actions include passing an almost $800 billion stimulus bill and promulgating budget proposals that envision heavy government involvement in tackling a wide variety of economic (and other) problems.
Republicans have protested the massive government actions, and many Republican leaders, along with conservative commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, have not hesitated to argue that the United States is heading down the road to socialism and essentially a government-controlled economy.
Despite the differences by party, the data show that overall, Americans tilt toward the Democratic position -- with a majority saying they trust the government more than businesses to solve the nation's economic problems.
This overall average is driven largely by the fact that there are more Democrats than Republicans in the United States at this point. Because independents are evenly split in their trust in government versus business to solve economic problems, the government approach wins out when the entire U.S. population is aggregated. If there were a national referendum on the desirability of the government taking the lead in solving the nation's economic problems as opposed to letting the capitalist system sort the problems out on its own, it appears that the government option would win.
Two other Gallup questions measuring Americans' views of the role and power of government show roughly the same patterns.
One long-standing Gallup trend question asks whether government is doing too much that should be left to individuals and businesses, or whether the government should do more to solve the country's problems. Democrats are highly likely to say government should do more, while Republicans are even more likely to choose the alternative that government is trying to do too much.
Overall, the sentiment that government is doing too much wins out, but by a narrower margin than was the case in the late summer of 2008. The huge government stimulus bills and other government plans do not appear to have caused any increase in concern that the government is doing too much -- at least not yet.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/116599/Economy-Republicans-Trust-Business-Dems-Trust-Gov.aspx 
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