An unprecedented study about the fears of average Americans has ranked government corruption as the nation’s most widespread fear. According to a survey conducted by researchers at Chapman University, 58 percent of the population rates itself “afraid” or “very afraid” of corruption among government officials.

The study, conducted in April, surveyed a random sample of over 1,500 Americans, asking them their level of fear about 88 different fears.

Included among the other top 10 fears harbored by everyday Americans are fears which the government is largely responsible for curbing. They included:

Many of those people who do not necessarily fear government corruption still recognize it as a problem. A Gallup poll from 2014 revealed 75 percent of Americans agree that “there is widespread corruption in the country’s government.” Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, when writing on the issue, said that 75 percent was “the most important number in American politics.”

The United States was born out of a desire to escape tyranny and corruption. As Gingrich explains,

[America’s Founding Fathers] frequently accused the British Parliament of corruption, citing practices such as the Crown’s use of “placemen”—members of Parliament who were also granted royal appointments or lucrative pensions by the Crown, in exchange for supporting the King’s agenda.

The corruption of the British Parliament played a major role in the United States’ decision to fight for its independence. Now America is at a point where the majority of its people fear the corruption of their own government.

While the study did not specify the reasons behind Americans’ fear of government corruption, it is consistent with the increasing reports of corrupt activities by top government officials as we have highlighted at theTrumpet.com. If you’d like to know more about the extent of that corruption and where it’s leading, request a free copy of editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s booklet America Under Attack.