Americans feel favorably about many federal agencies, especially the Park Service, Postal Service and NASA (2024)

Americans feel favorably about many federal agencies, especially the Park Service, Postal Service and NASA (1)

Americans continue to express positive views of several departments and agencies of the federal government. But there are partisan differences in many of these attitudes.

Most of these partisan gaps are similar to those seen last year, but Republicans and Democrats have grown further apart in their opinions of the Department of Justice. Republicans’ evaluations of the department have turned more negative.

Today, a majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (56%) say they have an unfavorable opinion of the Justice Department, up from 50% last year. A third have a favorable opinion of the DOJ, while 11% say they are not sure.

By contrast, 55% of Democrats and Democratic leaners have a favorable impression of the DOJ. About a third of Democrats (32%) say they have an unfavorable opinion and 12% are not sure. Views among Democrats are similar to those measured a year ago.

Republicans’ evaluations of the Department of Homeland Security have also turned more negative over the last year: 41% now have a favorable view, down from 47% in 2023.

How we did this

Pew Research Center regularly conducts surveys to gauge the public’s attitudes about the federal government, including government agencies and departments. For this analysis, we surveyed 9,424 adults from July 1 to 7, 2024.

Everyone who took part in this survey is a member of the Center’s American Trends Panel (ATP), a group of people recruited through national, random sampling of residential addresses who have agreed to take surveys regularly. This kind of recruitment gives nearly all U.S. adults a chance of selection. Surveys were conducted either online or by telephone with a live interviewer. The survey is weighted to be representative of the U.S. adult population by gender, race, ethnicity, partisan affiliation, education and other factors. Read more about the ATP’s methodology.

Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.

Many federal agencies are viewed positively overall

On balance, Americans view 13 of 16 federal agencies we asked about more favorably than unfavorably, according to our survey of 9,424 adults conducted July 1-7. Of those 13 agencies, 10 have net favorable ratings of 15 percentage points or more.

Topping the list are the National Park Service (76% favorable), the U.S. Postal Service (72%) and NASA (67%).

Smaller majorities have favorable impressions of other agencies, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (55% favorable), the Department of Transportation (53%) and the Social Security Administration (53%).

Americans have mixed views of the Department of Education (44% favorable, 45% unfavorable, 11% unsure) and the Department of Justice (43% favorable, 44% unfavorable, 13% unsure).

The least popular federal agency of the 16 asked about is the Internal Revenue Service. Half of Americans have an unfavorable opinion of the IRS, while 38% have a favorable view.

The agencies that are viewed favorably in our recent online surveys were also among the most favorably viewed in past Pew Research Center surveys conducted by telephone. However, because of differences in question wording and survey mode, the specific percentages in recent web surveys and past telephone surveys are not directly comparable. (Refer to the drop-down box below for more.)

Changes in question wording and mode differences between online and phone surveys

This survey is the second time Pew Research Center has measured the public’s attitudes about federal government agencies on our online American Trends Panel. We previously did so in 2023. Earlier surveys measuring views of federal agencies, including polls fielded in 2020 and in 2019, were conducted by telephone.

The findings in our 2024 and 2023 web surveys are not directly comparable with those past telephone surveys for two reasons:

  1. The web surveys use different question wording than past telephone surveys. Online survey respondents receive an explicit “not sure” response option. Telephone respondents, by contrast, had to volunteer that they did not have an opinion about an agency. This change generally results in a larger share of respondents declining to offer an opinion.
  2. Surveys conducted online and by telephone often produce different results because respondents sometimes answer similar questions differently across modes. This is called a “mode effect.”

These two factors mean that point estimates (for instance, the share of respondents who express a favorable opinion about a single agency in our new survey and in a prior phone survey) should not be directly compared to measure change over time. Doing so would conflate question wording and mode differences with change over time.

Despite this limitation, some broad comparisons can be made. For example, if a wide partisan gap is evident for one agency that was not apparent in past surveys – whereas the partisan gap has remained relatively stable for other agencies – that change is likely not only a result of the transition to online polling from phone polling.

Republicans have mostly negative views of CDC, Department of Education

There are wide partisan gaps in Americans’ views of several federal agencies.

Democrats and Democratic leaners hold consistently favorable views of all 16 agencies asked about.

Republicans and GOP leaners express more unfavorable than favorable views for 11 of the 16 agencies.

The partisan divisions in favorability are deepest for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (78% favorable among Democrats vs. 33% among Republicans) and the Environmental Protection Agency (73% vs. 32%).

There are also wide partisan gaps over the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Education, the FBI, the Department of Transportation, the IRS and other agencies.

In contrast, clear majorities of both Democrats and Republicans give positive ratings to the National Park Service (80% vs. 75%, respectively), the U.S. Postal Service (76% vs. 68%) and NASA (74% vs. 62%).

Among Democrats, the CDC and EPA receive some of the highest net favorability ratings

A large majority of Democrats (78%) rate the CDC favorably, while just 12% see the agency unfavorably. That amounts to a 66-point net advantage for the CDC.

For the EPA, 73% of Democrats see the agency favorably – 61 points more than the share who see it unfavorably.

Democrats view the IRS least favorably of the 16 federal agencies. They are only 13 points more likely to view it favorably than unfavorably (50% vs. 37%).

Republicans are much less favorable than Democrats toward most agencies

The agencies that Republicans feel most favorably toward are the National Park Service (67-point net favorability), NASA (45 points) and the Postal Service (41 points).

While it is not possible to make direct percentage point comparisons to past surveys due to a shift in survey mode, Republicans are more likely today than in the past to have substantially more negative than positive views of several agencies.

Republicans’ negative opinions of the CDC, in particular, appear to reflect a shift related to the coronavirus pandemic. Past Center surveys showed that Republicans were especially critical of the CDC’s handling of the outbreak.

Note: This is an update of a post originally published March 30, 2023. Here are the questions used for this analysis, the topline and the survey methodology.

Americans feel favorably about many federal agencies, especially the Park Service, Postal Service and NASA (2024)

FAQs

Why does the U.S. have so many federal agencies? ›

There are hundreds of Federal agencies and commissions charged with handling responsibilities as varied as managing America's space program, protecting its forests, gathering intelligence, and advancing the general welfare of the American people.

What are the best run government agencies? ›

Many federal agencies are viewed positively overall

Of those 13 agencies, 10 have net favorable ratings of 15 percentage points or more. Topping the list are the National Park Service (76% favorable), the U.S. Postal Service (72%) and NASA (67%).

What are some of the more important federal agencies? ›

Contents
  • 1 United States Congress.
  • 2 Federal judiciary of the United States.
  • 3 Executive Office of the President. ...
  • 4 United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) ...
  • 5 United States Department of Commerce. ...
  • 6 United States Department of Defense (DOD) ...
  • 7 United States Department of Education. ...
  • 8 United States Department of Energy.

How many federal agencies are there? ›

Updated by the Federal Register, includes list of all 438 agencies and sub-agencies. VP, Secretary of Agriculture, Commerce, Defense, Education, Energy, HHS, Homeland Security, HUD, Labor, State, Transportation, Treasury, Veterans Affairs & Attorney General.

Why is the federal agency important? ›

Federal agencies, including HHS, try in many ways to help communities, including states and localities, increase economic mobility and well-being.

Why is a federal system best for the United States? ›

THE BENEFITS OF FEDERALISM. Among the merits of federalism are that it promotes policy innovation and political participation and accommodates diversity of opinion.

What federal agency has the best benefits? ›

ByBenefits Ben

For large agencies (those which employ at least 15,000 people), the reigning champ for the 11 years prior remained at top for another year in a row: NASA.

What are the 4 types of government agencies? ›

In the U.S. government, there are four general types: cabinet departments, independent executive agencies, regulatory agencies, and government corporations.

What is the largest agency in the federal government? ›

The DOD is the largest government agency, with more than 1.4 million men and women on active duty, more than 700,000 civilian personnel, and 1.1 million citizens who serve in the National Guard and Reserve forces.

What are the 3 main functions of federal agencies? ›

Federal agencies are special government organizations set up for a specific purpose such as, the management of resources, financial oversight of industries, or national security issues.

Which federal agency has the most authority? ›

The federal government's most powerful agency is not the Department of Defense, with its tanks and ships and aircraft. It's not the CIA with its worldwide network of spies. It's not the Treasury Department managing trillions of dollars. It's the Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

What is the highest agency in America? ›

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior U.S. policymakers. The CIA director is nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate.

What do government agencies do? ›

A government agency is a permanent or semi-permanent organization within a national or state government. These agencies are responsible for oversight or administration of a specific sector, field, or area of study.

What are 5 examples of federal government agencies? ›

Agencies
  • Department of Agriculture. View goals.
  • Department of Commerce. View goals.
  • Department of Defense. View goals.
  • Department of Education. View goals.
  • Department of Energy. View goals.
  • Department of Health & Human Services. View goals.
  • Department of Homeland Security. View goals.
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development.

How many federal agencies are responsible for managing land resources in the United States? ›

Four major federal land management agencies—the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service and the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), and National Park Service (NPS)—are responsible for managing about 95% of these lands.

Why does the U.S. have so many law enforcement agencies? ›

In part because of an ideological commitment to local control over most institutions, police power in the United States became the province of state and local governments, and each city established its own police department.

Why do we have federal regulatory agencies? ›

regulatory agency, independent governmental body established by legislative act in order to set standards in a specific field of activity, or operations, in the private sector of the economy and then to enforce those standards. Regulatory agencies function outside direct executive supervision.

Why does the United States have a federal system of government? ›

They chose the federal system as one way to limit the powers for government in order to help assure that citizens retain their fundamental rights.

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