For most people, interaction with government is primarily for stupid trivial annoyances with bitter arrogant bureaucrats. Laws are generally passed to stem the most egregious social offenses, but they are often applied to the least consequential, by employees who consider themselves underpaid, overworked, and happy only by asserting control.
For example, a simple law which means to assure that nobody dies from eating in a slovenly restaurant turns into an expensive and time-consuming flim-flam if someone wants to sell cupcakes at a local bake sale. Worse, the big guys get away with all kinds of stuff or ignore the laws entirely _ with use of lawyers, bribes, and contacts.
So after an afternoon at the DMV, or filling out endless property forms or whatever, it is no wonder that voters think all government is “evil.” None of their personal interactions with it or anything but annoying and expensive in time and money and frustration.
I learned when coding software that although it is the big problems in applications that concern managers, architects, and developers, it is the tiniest little ongoing but obvious cosmetic issues that most annoy users and determine how they feel about the project.
I suspect that the constant creep of ever more certification and minuscule aggravations is why folks are so negative about public life today.
HuntingtonHarborThoughts 