How do citizens feel about federal government services? A study by the American Customer Satisfaction Index released today shows that overall satisfaction with government languishes well below most other sectors, but that trust in government is on the rise and e-Gov efforts are Uncle Sam's shining star.

In this latest ACSI report, satisfaction with e-government --- government websites, essentially --- holds steady at its all-time high of 75.2 on a 100-point scale for a second consecutive quarter. Meanwhile, traditional offline gov services bring down the overall score to 68.7, a failing grade, it must be noted. The government lags behind other industries including healthcare, insurance, retail, even utilities.

“It’s no surprise that citizens are happier to interface with the government utilizing the online channel,” said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee Results, the ACSI’s e-Government partner.

Of the more than 100 federal websites included in ACSI, many provide user satisfaction comparable to private-sector websites, as OhMyGov has noted in the past.

Freed cites advantages to e-Gov not only for citizens, but federal agencies as well. “Being able to access information and perform transactions at one’s own leisure is far more preferable to waiting in long lines at customer service centers or long queues using a call center. Conducting business online also means cost savings for agencies. Putting government information and services online achieves consolidation and integrates systems and databases to increase efficiency, enabling government to operate more responsively and effectively.”

According to the report, citizens who are highly satisfied with a federal government website are 52% more likely to trust the government and 50% more likely to participate with the government than those who are less satisfied. Satisfied citizens are also 80% more likely to use the website as a primary resource before considering other, more costly channels.

The Department of Interior earned the highest satisfaction ranking of any gov agency for the third straight year, at 81 on the ACSI scale. The department's three-peat in the rankings is attributed to the enduring popularity of the National Park System. Also scoring well were the Dept. of Health and Human Services, the Social Security Administration, the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and the Dept. of Defense.   

At the bottom of the agency list, the Dept. of Treasury, at a score of 57, thanks largely to the Internal Revenue Service, which because of its tax-collecting duties rarely garners the warm and fuzzies from citizens. Homeland Security doesn't fare much better at 58; here it's TSA's airline security and the Customs and Border Protection that drive the score down.

"Citizens often form negative opinions of the federal government even though they may not have had any real experience with its services," said Professor Claes Fornell, head of the ACSI and author of The Satisfied Customer. "Agencies can go a long way toward improving citizen perceptions and correcting misperceptions by offering high-quality services."

Interestingly, general trust in government scores "extraordinarily low" at 39, but when citizens "experience specific agency services, their impression is quite different," Fornell adds.

The ACSI has been used since 1999 as a standard metric for measuring citizen satisfaction with government.