In a Gallup poll in February, twice as many respondents said things were getting worse as thought they were improving.
Over half of respondents identified "things that are bad for your health" such as smoking and booze as areas on which benefits should not be spent.
The survey found that 61percentt of respondents said things would be better in five years; last April, just 39percentt expressed a similar sentiment.
The results showed deep anxiety about the state of the country, with 35percentt of respondents saying things were "so-so" and 47 percent saying they were going "badly" or "very badly".
A Los Angeles Times poll found that 52% of respondents thought things were going well these days, against 44% who said they were not, a reversal of the numbers in the previous poll.
Even more telling, 82% of respondents felt things were getting worse in the country, compared with an already worrisome 52% in June.On September 5th Mr Santos reshuffled his cabinet, replacing the agriculture minister, as well as those of the interior, justice, mining and energy and environment.
In September, 50percentt of respondents said things were going well".
Improving education opportunities for children with disabilities was only the first of 12 themes identified by the respondents as things that would make their lives easier.
One thing respondents did unite around was drinking – 60% of students said they imbibed at least once week.
For one thing, respondents to surveys could be more reluctant, in light of the lawsuits, to admit to engaging in an activity that could get them into legal trouble.
