You probably hate your state government too.
Don't like your state? Chances are you also don't trust your state
government.
On Thursday, Gallup released data on how people living in all 50 states felt about, well, living in all 50 states. Here's the map that USA Today built off the data. (And here's PostNation's Mark Berman explaining it.)
A few weeks back, Gallup released a bunch of data on how much people trusted
their state government. Here's
that map.
The overlap is uncanny. In virtually every state where people said they had above average trust in their state government, they also said that their state was the best or one of the best. And the reverse was also true; if you don't like your state government, the chances of you saying your state is one of the best or the best are tiny. Illinois ranks number one in the least trusted state government and second in worst place to live. Rhode Island is rated as the worst state to live in by its residents and places second in least trust in its state government.
Now, coincidence and causation are two very different things. People might hate living in Illinois for reasons entirely separate from their deep distrust in the state's government. And, people may love living in Alaska for its beautiful scenery or its isolation from the lower 48 and not because they perceive their state government as trustworthy.
Still, the overlap in the two maps is remarkable -- and might suggest that how state government runs (or doesn't) matters more to how much you like your state than you might think.
On Thursday, Gallup released data on how people living in all 50 states felt about, well, living in all 50 states. Here's the map that USA Today built off the data. (And here's PostNation's Mark Berman explaining it.)
Image courtesy of Gallup
The overlap is uncanny. In virtually every state where people said they had above average trust in their state government, they also said that their state was the best or one of the best. And the reverse was also true; if you don't like your state government, the chances of you saying your state is one of the best or the best are tiny. Illinois ranks number one in the least trusted state government and second in worst place to live. Rhode Island is rated as the worst state to live in by its residents and places second in least trust in its state government.
Now, coincidence and causation are two very different things. People might hate living in Illinois for reasons entirely separate from their deep distrust in the state's government. And, people may love living in Alaska for its beautiful scenery or its isolation from the lower 48 and not because they perceive their state government as trustworthy.
Still, the overlap in the two maps is remarkable -- and might suggest that how state government runs (or doesn't) matters more to how much you like your state than you might think.
No comments:
Post a Comment