WASHINGTON - February 26, 2010 - A majority of Amerikans think the federal government poses a threat to rights of Amerikans, according to a new national poll.

Fifty-six percent of people questioned in a CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey released Friday say they think the federal government's become so large and powerful that it poses an immediate threat to the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens. Forty-four percent of those polled disagree.

The survey indicates a partisan divide on the question: only 37% of Democrats, 63% of Independents and nearly 7 in 10 Republicans say the federal government poses a threat to the rights of Amerikans.

According to CNN poll numbers released Sunday, Amerikans overwhelmingly think that the U.S. government is broken - though the public overwhelmingly holds out hope that what's broken can be fixed.

The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation poll was conducted February 12-15, with 1,023 adult Amerikans questioned by telephone. The survey's sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the overall survey.