Poll: Americans still lack trust in national institutions.

Public Confidence in National Institutions Continues to Decline, Gallup Poll Reveals

According to a recent survey conducted by Gallup, public confidence in national institutions among American voters is on a downward trend. The poll found that trust in several institutions had significantly dropped compared to last year’s historically low records.

Major Drops in Trust for Key Institutions

The U.S. military and medical system suffered the most significant losses, with both experiencing a four-percentage-point decline. Additionally, small businesses, police, banks, public schools, and organized labor also saw considerable drops in public trust.

Steady but Low Confidence in the Supreme Court and Presidency

While the Supreme Court and the presidency did not witness major shifts in public opinion between 2022 and now, they were already at record-low confidence levels. This year, the Supreme Court received a 27% confidence rating, while the presidency stood at 26%. Although both institutions saw a slight increase from last year, it is important to note that the poll was conducted before the Supreme Court’s recent rulings in June.

Partisan Divide in Institutional Trust

The survey also revealed that institutional trust varied based on partisan alignment. Republicans generally lacked confidence in the presidency and public schools, while Democrats held the opposite opinion. Conversely, Democrats had less confidence in the Supreme Court compared to Republicans.

Rating of Other Institutions

Among the other institutions included in the survey, small businesses received a 65% confidence rating, followed by the military at 60%, the police at 43%, the medical system at 34%, and the church/organized religion at 32%. Banks, public schools, and large technology companies all received a 26% confidence rating. Organized labor and newspapers had a 25% and 18% confidence rating, respectively. The criminal justice system and television news received 17% and 14%, while big business and Congress were at the bottom with 14% and 8% confidence ratings, respectively.

It is worth mentioning that Gallup will publish a separate report on higher education, which was also included in the survey.

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Survey Details

Gallup conducted the survey from June 1-22, with a total of 1,013 respondents. The margin of error for the poll is 4%.

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