Do Republicans hate government?

New polling from the Pew Research Center reveals that the number of Republicans who believe the government should “take care of people who can’t take care of themselves” has dropped precipitously over the past two decades, a decline that speaks to a broader — and growing — skepticism from within the GOP regarding the role for government in people’s lives.

House Speaker John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio, holds a news conference following a Republican Conference meeting at the Capitol in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, May 31, 2012. (Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg)Back in 1987, 62 percent of self-identified Republicans in the Pew poll said they the government should take care of those who can’t do it themselves. That number has declined to 40 percent in the latest Pew survey, which was released earlier this week.
Support among independents for that view of government has declined over that time period as well, though far less deeply than it has among GOPers. Support among Democrats has stayed static.

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