Fewer now think government doing too much

PRINCETON, N.J., Sept. 17 (UPI) -- The number of U.S. citizens who think the government is trying to do too many things has dropped from record-high numbers earlier this summer, Gallup has found.

In a telephone survey of 1,017 adults published Monday, the polling organization found 54 percent believed the government does too many things that should be left to individuals and business. That number is down from 61 percent who said the same thing earlier this summer.

Some 39 percent said the government should do more to find solutions for the nation's problems.

Gallup said the opinions tended to be divided along partisan lines.

Two-thirds of Democrats said the government should do more, while 87 percent of Republicans and 62 percent of independents said the government was doing too much.

However, the country is split about whether the government has too much power. Some 51 percent agreed the government has too much power. Still, that number is down from 57 percent last year and 59 percent in 2010.

The poll was taken Sept. 6-9, which Gallup noted overlapped the end of the Democratic convention that may have influenced opinions.

Democrats polled during the Bush administration thought the government had too much power, Gallup added. Those opinions switched when President Obama took office.

The poll's maximum margin of error was plus or minus 4 percent, Gallup said.