Can democracy survive if few trust the government it produces?
We have turned into a bunch of cynics. Since 1958 the Pew Research Center has been periodically asking Americans, “How much of the time do you think you can trust the government in Washington to do what is right?”
Back then, during the administration of President Dwight Eisenhower, 73% of Americans said they trusted government to do what is right
“just about always” or “most of the time.” The trust number peaked at 77% in 1964 during the start of the administration of President Lyndon B. Johnson.
The trend has been downward ever since, except for a couple of brief upturns. The last jump in Americans trusting their government came in the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. It was also the last time the trust level was north of 50%, ironic given that the federal government had just failed spectacularly in protecting national security.
The trust meter has largely continued its decline since then, through administrations and Congresses both Democrat and Republican. It trended down during President Barack Obama’s call for us to “hope” and President Trump’s vow to “make America great again.”
The trust level in government is now 16%.
Was the U.S. government that much more trustworthy back when we liked Ike or elected LBJ in a landslide following the assassination of the charismatic John F. Kennedy? Certainly not. That was a time before freedom of information allowed citizens to get information about what their government was up to. It was before the passage of anti-discrimination laws. Objectively speaking, there was probably less reason to trust the government back then.
But the collective attitude toward government was generally sunnier, and there was far less feeding our cynicism.
It was also a time before money came to so dominate politics at the federal level. A time before negative attack ads — depicting your political opponent as sinister, untrustworthy and basically a terrible human being — became the standard campaign modus operandi. It was a time before cable networks, radio talk shows and social media ginned up distrust about the opposing faction — be it left or right — to build loyal audiences and generate hits.
Things are at a low point. Heading into the presidential election of 2024, many Americans see the election as not about who has the better policy ideas to move the nation forward but instead about preventing the other guy from winning and destroying our democracy in the process.
Many are fearful — mostly Democrats but not exclusively so — that if former President Donald Trump wins a second term in 2024 our democracy and the institutions that protect it will be seriously endangered. Count me among those folks. The lesson Trump learned from his first term is that if again elected, this time he must bring into his administration only those completely loyal to him, not to the Constitution or to some higher ideals of fairness and justice. This time Trump will want a Cabinet willing to use the power of government to crush his political enemies.
But many Republicans see this as already happening under President Joe Biden. They do not view the arrests of Trump for failing to protect and return classified documents, and for conspiring to defy the will of the voters and remain in office, as necessary actions to hold him accountable. Rather they see Biden using the legal system to try to remove his greatest challenger from the playing field.
They’re wrong, but they believe it fervently, their perspective fueled by Fox News, right-wing websites and radio talk shows.
The nation is not in a good place when that level of foreboding about the other party precedes an election.
It is hard to see what will reverse this troubling trend. Biden has had significant achievements. During his administration Congress passed laws to cap insulin costs and gave Medicare the power to negotiate, and eventually lower, the cost of many prescription drugs.
The CHIPS and Science Act, which Biden signed into law in August, should increase domestic microchip manufacturing, making the nation less dependent on other nations for this critical commodity. Congress, with bipartisan support, approved a desperately needed $1 trillion infrastructure bill. Warnings of a recession have not materialized. Instead, the economy has added 13 million jobs during his administration, including 339,000 jobs in August.
But those achievements and that job growth is winning Biden few fans or improving the national mood. Biden’s approval rating is stuck hovering around 40%. Real Clear Politics, using an averaging of several polls, finds 68% of Americans see the nation as moving in the wrong direction, only 23% see it as going in the right direction. Concerns about Biden’s age, 80, his frequent gaffes and seeming frailty don’t help his approval ratings. Neither do scenes of migrants pouring over the southern border.
And while unemployment is low at 3.8%, many Americans don’t see their income keeping up with high inflation. When they need to borrow, they are hit with the high inflation rates set in place by the Federal Reserve to attack that inflation. The Day reported on a recent study that concluded one-third of the households here in New London County are in “survival mode.” There is a sense that hard work is not rewarded because there is no getting ahead.
Yet even during times of economic growth and low inflation, the downward trend in trust in government generally continued.
It is healthy to be skeptical of government and questioning about it. I made a career of it. But the deep cynicism now in place does not bode well for our democracy. Unfortunately, I can’t foresee what changes the dynamics driving that cynicism.