A new Gallup poll appears to confirm something that we've all somewhat known for a while: Americans are more tuned into politics now than at any time in recent memory.

As the graph below shows, the number of Americans saying they follow national politics "very closely" increased to a high of 43% last year, in the middle of the election, and has now declined slightly to 36%. It's obviously to be expected that political attention would fall after an election year, but look closely at the numbers. This year's number of 36% is equal to the 2004 election year number.

The pollster's analysis lists a few reasons, including both long-term trends and the increased legislative activity under President Obama: "Americans' consumption of political news has expanded over the past decade. The trend may reflect a greater politicization of the American public, regardless of political ideology, as attention is up among all three party groups. However, the increase since 2007 (from 30% to 36%) in the percentage following political news very closely may also stem from Barack Obama's busy legislative agenda in his first year as president."