A Pew Research study of people’s attitude towards the government has found that 89% of Republicans seldom trust the government. But neither do 72% of Democrats.
Back in 1958, a similar study found that three-quarters of Americans did trust their government. What happened since then, that both liberals and conservatives have become disenchanted with their government? Has the government changed that much, or have Americans become more savvy about their leaders? From Priya Anand, One Thing Democrats and Republicans Have in Common:
Republicans and Democrats agree on one thing: Neither trusts the government very much.
Only 19% of Americans say they trust the government “always or most of the time,” according to a survey released Monday by the Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan, nonprofit think tank based in Washington, D.C. That figure breaks down to 26% of Democrats or Democratic-leaning independents, and 11% of Republicans or Republican-leaners. (Pew Research interviewed 6,000 people between Aug. 27 and Oct. 4.)