WASHINGTON, June 24 (UPI) -- Nearly half of U.S. adults view the government as a threat to, not a protector of, individual rights, a Rasmussen poll released Thursday indicates.
Forty-eight percent of adults said they saw the government as a threat, compared with 37 percent who said they believed the opposite, Rasmussen said. Fifteen percent of survey respondents said they were undecided.
Most Republicans, 74 percent, said they thought the government threatened individual rights, while 51 percent of respondents not identifying a party affiliation expressed the same view. Sixty-four percent of Democrats regard the government as a protector of rights.
Additionally, most Americans -- 52 percent -- said they thought it was more important for the government to protect individual rights than to promote economic growth, the poll indicated. Thirty-one percent of respondents said promoting economic growth is more important.
Results are based on a nationwide survey of 1,000 adults conducted June 18-19. The margin of error is 3 percentage points.
