Americans have become increasingly more afraid of their own government, as Eric Katz writes in, appropriately, Government Executive. Seems that:
More than one in three voting Americans are afraid of the federal government, according to a recent poll.
And that:
The percentage of U.S. voters who viewed the government as a protector of rights decreased by more than half since December 2012, when 45 percent viewed the government as a positive force.
And, finally, that:
Two-thirds of voters viewed the government as a special interest group that “looks out primarily for its own interests.”
These numbers take us a long way from that "government is the thing we all belong to,” pitch that the party of government likes to make and put to music.