What happens when Americans lose faith in their most hallowed of institutions? The nation might just be close to finding out. A recent survey suggests that confidence in some of the most important staples in American society is rapidly declining. This brings up an obvious question: Will Americans ever begin trusting these bastions again?
Gallup released the results of a survey showing that Americans no longer revere major US institutions as they have in days past. “Americans are less confident in major U.S. institutions than they were a year ago, with significant declines for 11 of the 16 institutions tested and no improvements for any,” according to the report. “The largest declines in confidence are 11 percentage points for the Supreme Court – as reported in late June before the court issued controversial rulings on gun laws and abortion – and 15 points for the presidency, matching the 15-point drop in President Joe Biden’s job approval rating since the last confidence survey in June 2021.”
The report continued:
“Confidence currently ranges from a high of 68% for small business to a low of 7% for Congress. The military is the only institution besides small business for which a majority of Americans express confidence (64%). Confidence in the police, at 45%, has fallen below the majority level for only the second time, with the other instance occurring in 2020 in the weeks after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
This year’s poll marks new lows in confidence for all three branches of the federal government — the Supreme Court (25%), the presidency (23%) and Congress. Five other institutions are at their lowest points in at least three decades of measurement, including the church or organized religion (31%), newspapers (16%), the criminal justice system (14%), big business (14%) and the police.”
What is particularly notable about this data is that President Joe Biden has managed to have the absolute lowest confidence levels in decades. The Washington Examiner observed that “[g]oing back to 1975, Gallup has never recorded a confidence reading as low as Biden’s 23%.”
Party affiliation does not seem to have an impact on how Americans view US institutions, either. “All partisan groups are generally less confident in the 16 U.S. institutions than they were a year ago, with average declines of four points among Republicans, five points among Democrats and six points among independents,” according to Gallup.
Not surprisingly, Americans of all political affiliations have lost trust in television news. This particular measurement saw a five-point drop, from 16% to 11%, between 2021 and 2022
As more Americans have access to the internet and social media, they have been given a front-row seat to witness how these institutions operate. After getting a peek behind the curtain, so to speak, people decided they did not like what they saw. This loss of faith in government and the media is no shocker. The gap between the elites and everyday folks appears to be at its widest.
But perhaps there is another way to look at these findings. In fact, questioning these institutions might be a sign that America is becoming a healthier society. We have already seen what happens when the elites operate in the shadows. If members of the upper crust face more scrutiny, it will be harder for them to control the rest of the populace. Maybe instead of asking whether America will ever trust its institutions again, it would be better to ask if they should.
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