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Approval of the president, Congress, the courts, or agencies; ratings of how government handles problems; direction of the country (right track or wrong track).
| Question | Source | Years | Waves |
|---|---|---|---|
| Approval of the president's job performance Do you approve or disapprove of the way that [the president] is handling his/her job as President? | ANES | 1972–2024 | 22 |
| Approval of the president Do you approve of the way each is doing their job... [Pipe Incumbent President] | CES | 2006–2025 | 20 |
| Approval of the governor Do you approve of the way each is doing their job... Governor of [Pipe State] | CES | 2006–2025 | 20 |
| Most important national problem, first mention (IF MORE THAN ONE PROBLEM:) Of all you’ve told me (1996-LATER: Of those you’ve mentioned), what would you say is the single most important problem the country faces? | ANES | 1960–2000 | 20 |
| Approval of Congress's job performance Do you approve or disapprove of the way the U.S. Congress has been handling its job? | ANES | 1980–2024 | 18 |
| Strength of approval or disapproval of the president Do you (approve/disapprove) {of the president’s performance} strongly or not strongly? | ANES | 1980–2024 | 18 |
| Approval of own House representative's job performance In general, do you approve or disapprove of the way [1980-2004: running U.S.House incumbent Representative; 2012: U.S. House incumbent Representative] has been handling his/her job? | ANES |
| 1980–2024 |
| 17 |
| Approval of president's handling of the economy (IF APPROVE/DISAPPROVE: ) Do you approve/disapprove strongly or not strongly? | ANES | 1984–2024 | 16 |
| Approval of president on foreign relations Do you approve or disapprove of the way -President name- is handling (1984,1988-2004: our) relations with foreign countries? | ANES | 1984–2024 | 15 |
| Government handling of the most important problem How good (of) a job is the government doing in dealing with this problem: a good job, only fair, or a poor job? | ANES | 1976–2000 | 10 |
| Country on right track or wrong track Do you feel things in this country are generally going in the right direction, or do you feel things have pretty seriously gotten off on the wrong track? | ANES | 1992–2024 | 9 |
| Approval of president on health care Do you approve or disapprove of the way -President name- is handling health care? | ANES | 1996–2020 | 5 |
| Rating of federal government's job over past four years {INTERVIEWER: DO NOT PROBE DON’T KNOW} | ANES | 2004–2020 | 4 |
| Whether things in the country are going well Would you say that things in the country are generally going very well, fairly well, not too well or not well at all? | ANES | 1984–1988 | 3 |
| Performance rating of Congress Congress, that is the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives | ANES | 1974–1980 | 3 |
| Performance rating of the presidency The presidency | ANES | 1974–1980 | 3 |
| Performance rating of the Supreme Court The U.S. Supreme Court | ANES | 1974–1980 | 3 |
| Performance rating of the federal government THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN WASHINGTON | ANES | 1974–1980 | 3 |
| Rating of government economic policy As to the economic policy of the government – I mean steps taken to fight inflation or unemployment – would you say the government is doing a good job, only fair, or a poor job? | ANES | 1972–1976 | 3 |
| Second most important issue for America A2. Which is the next most important? | GSS | 2010–2021 | 2 |
| Most important issue for America A1. Which of these issues is the most important for America today? | GSS | 2010–2021 | 2 |
| Government administrators' commitment to serving people Thinking of government administrators in America, how committed are they to serve the people? | GSS | 2004–2014 | 2 |
| Most important issue for America (follow-on) NOTE: This variable originates on the GSS Next follow-on, and should not be analyzed without the GSS Next-specific weights WTSSPS_NEXT or WTSSNRPS_NEXT | GSS | 2025 | 1 |
| Other important issue: none of these (follow-on) NOTE: This variable originates on the GSS Next follow-on, and should not be analyzed without the GSS Next-specific weights WTSSPS_NEXT or WTSSNRPS_NEXT | GSS | 2025 | 1 |
| Approval of Vice President Harris's job performance Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [Vice President Harris] | CES | 2024 | 1 |
| Public service's commitment to serving people Thinking of the public service in America, how committed is it to serve the people? | GSS | 2024 | 1 |
| Approval of the state legislature's job performance Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [$LegName] | CES | 2024 | 1 |
| Approval of the Supreme Court's job performance Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [The U.S. Supreme Court] | CES | 2024 | 1 |
| Approval of President Biden's job performance Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [President Biden] | CES | 2024 | 1 |
| Approval of the governor's job performance Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [The Governor of $inputstate] | CES | 2024 | 1 |
| Approval of Congress's job performance Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [The U.S. Congress] | CES | 2024 | 1 |
| Approval of the state governor Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [The Governor of $inputstate] | CES | 2022 | 1 |
| Approval of the U.S. Supreme Court Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [The U.S. Supreme Court] | CES | 2022 | 1 |
| Approval of the state legislature Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [$LegName] | CES | 2022 | 1 |
| Approval of the U.S. Congress Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [The U.S. Congress] | CES | 2022 | 1 |
| Approval of President Biden's job performance Do you approve of the way each is doing their job? [President Biden] | CES | 2022 | 1 |
| Approval of the state legislature Do you approve of the way each is doing their job... [$LegName] | CES | 2020 | 1 |
| Approval of the U.S. Supreme Court Do you approve of the way each is doing their job... [The U.S. Supreme Court] | CES | 2020 | 1 |
| Approval of the state governor Do you approve of the way each is doing their job... [The Governor of $inputstate] | CES | 2020 | 1 |
| Approval of President Trump's job performance Do you approve of the way each is doing their job... [President Trump] | CES | 2020 | 1 |
| Approval of the U.S. Congress Do you approve of the way each is doing their job... [The U.S. Congress] | CES | 2020 | 1 |
| Remove Trump from office for obstruction of Congress Over the past two years, Congress voted on many issues. Do you support each of the following proposals? [Remove President Trump from office for obstruction of Congress] | CES | 2020 | 1 |
| Remove Trump from office for abuse of power Over the past two years, Congress voted on many issues. Do you support each of the following proposals? [Remove President Trump from office for abuse of power] | CES | 2020 | 1 |
| Approval of President Trump's job performance | CES | 2018 | 1 |
| Approval of the Supreme Court's job performance Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job... [The U.S. Supreme Court] | CES | 2018 | 1 |
| Approval of the state legislature's job performance Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job... [$LegName] | CES | 2018 | 1 |
| Approval of the governor's job performance Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job... [The Governor of $inputstate] | CES | 2018 | 1 |
| Approval of Congress's job performance Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job... [The U.S. Congress] | CES | 2018 | 1 |
| Approval of President Trump's job performance Do you approve or disapprove of the way each is doing their job... [President Trump] | CES | 2018 | 1 |
| Approval of Obama's handling of the presidency Do you approve or disapprove of the way Barack Obama is handling his job as president? | GSS | 2012 | 1 |
| Government success at providing health care for the sick A. Providing health care for the sick? Would you say… | GSS | 2006 | 1 |
| Government success at ensuring decent living for the old B. Providing a decent standard of living for the old? | GSS | 2006 | 1 |
| Government success at protecting the environment F. Protecting the environment? | GSS | 2006 | 1 |
| Government success at controlling crime D. Controlling crime? | GSS | 2006 | 1 |
| Government success at fighting unemployment E. Fighting unemployment? | GSS | 2006 | 1 |
| Government success at dealing with security threats C. Dealing with threats to America's security? | GSS | 2006 | 1 |
| Likelihood government administrators' mistakes get corrected When the government administrators make serious mistakes in America how likely is it that they will be corrected? | GSS | 2004 | 1 |