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PRINCETON, NJ -- As Congress attempts to come up with a budget agreement to avoid a government shutdown, Americans' views of both parties in Congress are equally negative -- 31% approve of the Republicans in Congress and 32% approve of the Democrats in Congress. Each party's rating is among the lowest ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½has found since the question was first asked in 1999.

Democrats' 32% approval rating in the March 25-27 ÓÅÃÛ´«Ã½poll is just two percentage points above its low point, registered in December 2007. Republicans' current rating is six points better than its low of 25% in December 2008.

Americans generally look less favorably on Congress as an institution than they do or . Thus, it has been rare for a majority of Americans to approve of , and how either party in Congress, is doing. In fact, neither party has achieved this distinction in nearly eight years.

Republicans in Congress last earned that level of support in October 2003, perhaps a lingering effect of the surge in government trust after the September 2001 terror attacks. Not since April 2002 have a majority of Americans approved of the Democrats in Congress.

Even shortly after Democrats regained majority status in Congress in early 2007, just 41% of Americans approved of the job the party was doing.

Approval Is in the Eye of the Beholder

Though Americans are generally down on Congress, they do seem positively disposed to their own party's congressional caucus. The poll finds 63% of Republicans approving of the job the Republicans in Congress are doing, and 58% of Democrats approving of the job the Democrats in Congress are doing. On the flip side, Democrats and Republicans give very low ratings to the opposition party. Fewer than 3 in 10 independents approve of either party in Congress.

Even though a majority of Republicans and Democrats approve of the job their preferred party is doing in Congress, the ratings are still relatively weak compared with what partisans give to the president of their own party. For example, roughly 8 in 10 Democrats currently approve of the job President Obama is doing, compared with their 58% approval rating for Democrats in Congress. George W. Bush's job approval rating averaged above 80% among Republicans while he was president.

Implications

Congress faces difficult challenges in trying to jump-start the economy while also reining in spending as . The difficulty of these tasks is compounded by divided party control of Congress, with Republicans in the majority in the House of Representatives and Democrats controlling the Senate. To date, Congress has struggled to find agreement on long-term budget solutions, opting instead for short-term agreements to avoid a government shutdown. Its ability to do so, particularly this week, with the looming April 8 deadline to pass a 2011 budget or a continuing resolution, could play a crucial role in determining whether Americans' views of Congress improve or deteriorate.