(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Few adults in the United States hold a positive opinion of their federal lawmakers, according to a review of five recent public opinion polls. In a survey by Opinion Dynamics released by Fox News, only 20 per cent of respondents approve of the job Congress is doing.

The approval rating for Congress stands at 18 per cent in a study by Harris Interactive, 17 per cent in a poll by Bloomberg and the Los Angeles Times, and 16 per cent in surveys by the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute and Financial Dynamics / Diageo/Hotline.

American voters renewed the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate in November 2006. In January 2007, the Democratic Party took control of the lower house for the first time since 1994, with 233 lawmakers. A victory for the Democratic candidates for the Senate in Montana and Virginia also gave the party a majority in the upper house. Democratic California congresswoman Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the House.

On Aug. 29, Pelosi criticized presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain’s selection of Alaska governor Sarah Palin as his running mate, declaring, "She shares John McCain’s commitment to overturning Roe v. Wade and continuing George Bush’s failed economic policies."

American voters will elect a new president, and renew the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate on Nov. 4.

Polling Data

a) Do you approve or disapprove of the job Congress is doing?

Source: Opinion Dynamics / Fox News
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 900 registered American voters, conducted on Aug. 19 and Aug. 20, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

b) How would you rate the overall job the Congress is doing—excellent, pretty good, only fair, or poor?

Source: Harris Interactive
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,015 American adults, conducted from Aug. 6 to Aug. 10, 2008. No margin of error was provided.

c) Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

Source: Bloomberg / Los Angeles Times
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,375 American adults, conducted from Aug. 15 to Aug. 18, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

d) Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

Source: Quinnipiac University Polling Institute
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,547 likely American voters, conducted from Aug. 12 to Aug. 17, 2008. Margin of error is 2.5 per cent.

e) Do you approve or disapprove of the way Congress is handling its job?

Source: Financial Dynamics / Diageo/Hotline
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,022 registered American voters, conducted from Aug. 18 to Aug. 24, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.

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