11-12-08, 10:04 am

The US government has failed to live up to the expectations of its citizens regarding the provision of basic needs, a new international poll released this week showed.

According to the results of the survey conducted by this summer, American respondents to the poll by high margins stated they believe the US government has a large role to play in the provision of basic food needs, education, and health care.

Almost three in four Americans said the US government has a responsibility to help ensure that people are able to meet their food needs. Almost half, however, indicated that the US government failed to meet these needs “at all” or “very well.”

Even more Americans agreed that the US government is responsible to providing access to education. According to the survey, more than 80 percent of Americans believed the government should play a role in providing education. Only six in 10 Americans felt the government adequately accomplished the task.

On the issue of health care, Americans expressed the most concern about the government’s responsibility and its job performance. Almost eight in 10 Americans said the government is responsible for providing this basic need, but only three in 10 gave it good marks for its role in this.

Overall, American opinions on these three areas of concern reflect, more or less, typical opinions on the role of government globally. The poll showed, however, wide variations among people from different countries on how well their governments lived up to that responsibility.

On average, across all countries polled, nine in 10 say that their government has the responsibility to ensure access to food, healthcare, and education.

'Clearly there is universal consensus that governments have a responsibility to address the social and economic needs of their citizens,' said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org.

Overall, respondents expressing the highest levels of satisfaction with their government's performance in meeting such needs are found in China, Great Britain, Jordan, and the Palestinian Territories. The lowest levels are found in Russia, Ukraine, Argentina, and Nigeria.

American responses to the survey expressed the third largest amount of dissatisfaction with the government’s role in the provision of health care. While citizens of China, Palestine, and Indonesia expressed greater satisfaction on this issue than Americans by large margins, only Russians, Ukrainians, and Argentinians expressed more disapproval.