Has a role in helping the less fortunate today. in addition, the overall view of the government has shifted dramatically. in reagan s day, about that same number of republicans and democrats labeled the federal government as wasteful and inefficient. since then, republicans say waste and inefficiency has grown while democrats say it has shrunk. today, 77% of americans see the federal government has dysfunctional, while just 41% of democrats agree with that. even on issues like the environment and immigration, the two parties are increasingly divided. when pew first asked this question in 1992, nearly the same number of republicans and democrats supported laws that protected the environment. the gap was just five percentage points. since then, the republican support has fallen off the table, contributing to a nearly 40% gap today. in 2002, there was little difference on the way the two parties felt about immigration. now the democrats have taken a more favorable view to it. the message ....