“Since 2015, opinions about the federal government’s handling of several major issues have become less positive and much more partisan. Yet majorities continue to say the government should have a “major role” on such issues as defending against terrorism and helping lift people from poverty. And views about government’s role, unlike its performance, have changed only modestly over the past two years. Public trust in government, meanwhile, remains close to a historic low. Just 18% say they trust the federal government to do the right thing “just about always” or “most of the time” – a figure that has changed very little for more than a decade. And while more Republicans say they trust the government today than did so during the Obama administration, just 22% of Republicans and even fewer Democrats (15%) say they trust the government at least most of the time. With a new president in the White House, the lower ratings for the federal government’s performance are driven largely by Democrats, who are much more negative today than they were two years ago. Among the public overall, positive ratings for the government’s handling of ensuring access to health care have declined 20 percentage points since 2015; today, just 36% say it does a very or somewhat good job in ensuring access to health care, down from 56% two years ago…The new national survey by Pew Research Center, conducted Nov. 29-Dec. 4 among 1,503 U.S. adults, updates measures on the government’s role and performance from a major study of attitudes about government conducted in 2015…”