According to new research by the American Customer Satisfaction Survey, the federal government receives poor satisfaction ratings among Americans. On a scale of 100, it posted a score of 66.3. While the figure was lower over the past two years, the new figure is below the index from 2016 to 2019. The department that had the worst score was the Treasury Department, which had a score of 54.
[in-text-ad]
The results were based on how departments treated citizens, access to information, customer services and the department’s websites. The “mission” of each department was also critical, which may be the primary reason Treasury did so poorly. The researchers wrote, “Treasury lags behind in citizen satisfaction but given its primary citizen-facing mission is tax collection, this lower rating is not entirely unexpected.” Tax rates are a part of the federal government that is most burdensome, mainly because of how it chops people’s incomes. (Click here for the states with the most anti-government groups.)

The survey does not show whether the federal government and, more specifically, the people who run it care about how citizens feel. There is not, and probably never has been, a push across all the largest parts of the government to make it more “citizen friendly.” It almost certainly does not view itself like a restaurant or car company would. Among most business categories, consumer perception drives customers. The government does not face that dynamic. That means it will not get better.

Get Our Free Investment Newsletter

I have read, and agree to the Terms of Use

The ACSI Federal Government Report 2022 was based on a questionnaire given to 2,126 people who said they recently had experiences with the government.

Thank you for reading! Have some feedback for us?
Contact the 24/7 Wall St. editorial team.