According to a telephone survey of voters conducted by the
Partnership for Public Service on Nov. 2, a solid majority
of the 1,000 voters selected as a comprehensive sample felt
that “blame for government does not lie with federal
workers but with elected leaders.”
PPS observed that amid the divisive election, the voters
it polled agreed on the importance of a positive vision
for improving government and recognized that “bureaucrat
bashing” was not the answer.
The poll reinforced earlier findings by the partnership
that the language commonly associated with government
influences the perception of it, with “federal government
workers” eliciting a favorable response and “federal
bureaucrats” a negative one.
The partnership, a non-partisan organization devoted to
making government a more attractive employer, has urged
agencies to speak to the “savvy altruism” of candidates
in their recruitment efforts, as well as recasting the
image of government work.
Another partnership survey conducted in May 2004 found
that “91 percent of Americans said that the jobs, duties
and functions of federal government workers are important
to their daily lives — views that cut across political
ideology, race, and geographic lines,” but that while
about 70 percent had favorable views of government workers,
just 20 percent were able to see “government bureaucrats”
in a positive light.
The full survey is available here: