Fear of big government near record high, poll shows

A near-record level of Americans, 64 percent, say that "big government" is a bigger threat to the country than "big business" or "big labor," according to a new poll.

While nearly two-thirds say big government is the major threat, 26 percent name big business, according to the Gallup survey conducted November 28 - December 1. Just 8 percent name big labor.

Since Gallup starting asking the question in 1965, Americans have typically named big government as the biggest threat; an all-time high of 65 percent named it as the biggest threat in 1999 and 2000.

While "big government" is often cast as a conservative concern, 48 percent of Democrats named it the biggest threat, compared to 44 percent who said big business. Most Democrats, 55 percent, similarly named big government as the biggest threat in 2006; however, that figure plummeted to 32 percent in March 2009, soon after President Obama took office. The opinions of independents and Republicans haven't changed as dramatically.

Concerns about big business peaked at 38 percent in 2002 following the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals.