Monday, September 30, 1996

Texas Poll: Texans trust local government more than state, feds By ANNA M. TINSLEY
Harte-Hanks Texas Poll Syndicate
Copyright 1996 Harte-Hanks Communications

Texans are most likely to trust local government rather than state or federal agencies, according to The Harte-Hanks Texas Poll. But more than half say state agencies serve the public well.

Texans aren't especially known for their faith in government. Even some of the earliest Texans, who wrote the state's constitution, showed an apparent wariness of politicians and strict government control. The constitution's authors spread out power among officials and decided the Legislature should meet only every other year.

Times haven't changed much, political analysts say. Texans still don't have overwhelming trust in government.

"Trust in government has been in a very steady decline for 30 years," said Cal Jillson, chairman of the political science department at Southern Methodist University.

Thirty-seven percent of Texans say they have the greatest trust and confidence in their local government, 30 percent trust state government more, 19 percent have more faith in the federal government and 14 percent say they didn't know which level of government they trust most.

The poll results reflect a growing anti-federal government mood nationwide, which has led to state officials pushing for more local control, said Ty Meighan, director of the Texas Poll.

A general trust in government has been lacking for decades, said Jillson, also director of the John Tower Center for political studies.

"A series of events - Vietnam and Watergate - shook what had been a very solid confidence in government trying to be honest and work in people's best interests.

"Then people began to question whether the government was telling the truth," he said. "Trust and integrity were at stake and the answer went from yes to no around Watergate. People's impression of the government never got substantially better after those body blows."

What trust there is, analysts say, is divided along party lines. Thirty percent of Democrats, 17 percent of Independents and 10 percent of Republicans have more confidence in the federal government. Thirty-seven percent of Republicans, 33 percent of Independents and 22 percent of Democrats trust state government more, the poll shows.

"Reaction to various levels of government revolves around the individual chief executive at that level," Jillson said. "Democrats and liberals feel better about the national level - because President Clinton is there - and Republicans and conservatives have more trust at the state level because of Gov. Bush."

Trust in local government was more evenly divided - 42 percent of Republicans, 40 percent of Independents and 34 percent of Democrats believe local government is the most trustworthy. Academics say Texans aren't alone in their trust in local government.

"The idea is that the government closest to you is somehow the best," said Allan Saxe, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. "If the garbage is picked up, the water works and the police come, people are fairly happy with their local government."

Every two years since 1979, the University of Texas has surveyed state employees on how well they feel their agencies are performing.

Through that survey, each of the 51 participating agencies get feedback from employees, which officials hope will be used to spot problem areas, said Mike Lauderdale, a social work professor at the University of Texas.

"In general, employees are fairly positive," said Lauderdale, who is in charge of the study. "Opinions vary from agency to agency and some are seen as more effective than others."

Areas that state employees traditionally rank high include quality of customer service and working well with the public. Other areas normally receive low scores: trust and confidence in the employee's agency and how employees feel about their pay.

As for Texans, 52 percent say state agencies serve the public well. But only 29 percent agree that agencies produce high-quality work with few errors, compared with 42 percent who disagree, 15 percent who neither agree nor disagree and 14 percent who didn't know.

Forty percent of Texans say state government is known as an employer that offers competitive salaries. Twenty-six percent disagree, 12 percent neither agree nor disagree and 22 percent didn't know.

"Texas citizens have less favorable perceptions about the quality of state government agencies than state employees," Lauderdale said. "This difference is to be expected because employees inside an organization performing the work are more likely to view it positively."

Twenty-six percent of Texans say the quality of services provided by state agencies has become better. And 41 percent of Texans say state agencies are known for the high-quality of their customer service.

"Texas state government has operated in a fairly effective and efficient way," said Albert Hawkins, director of the governor's office of budget and planning. "There is a comfort level that citizens feel with government closer to them."

Hawkins said it is a good sign that 52 percent of Texans say state agencies serve the public well.
"We would hope as we improve upon our ability to provide services, that would increase," he said. "You don't sit back and think, 'Oh great.' We would like to see the number of people feeling good about the state government be higher."

Forty-eight percent of Texans say state agencies respond effectively to any citizen regardless of sex, ethnicity or income. Thirty-one percent disagree, 9 percent neither agree nor disagree and 12 percent don't know.

The poll, conducted Sept. 3-13, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points. The Office of Survey Research of the University of Texas surveyed 1,001 adult Texans for Harte-Hanks Communications Inc.