Trust in Government Institutions
Gallup News conducts annual polls of the public’s trust in government institutions and actors. The results of the 2023 poll reveal two worrisome facts: U.S. confidence in national government, judiciary, and other key institutions had decreased significantly since polling began in 2006; and among G7 countries, the U.S. has the lowest level of confidence on the national institutions index. Ranked in order by confidence level, Canada was ranked highest among G7 countries, followed by, Britain, Germany, France, Japan, and Italy.
That index is a composite measure of the confidence a country’s residents have in key national institutions such as the military, the judicial system, the national government and the honesty of elections. In 2006 the U.S. scored higher on the index than the other G7 countries.
Even so, the U.S. remains the dominant voice among the G7. It has the largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world. Its culture is admired worldwide. It is the world’s leading military power. The U.S. dollar is the world’s reserve currency. In view of all that, does the U.S.’s low rank on the national institutions index matter?
Yes, it matters. As the Gallup report asserts, strong institutions that are credible and instill faith in the legitimacy of the political system are among the best guarantors of a country’s long-term stability. There are many reasons why this is true.
The recent Covid-19 pandemic provides an excellent example. Public health officials, facing an unknown virus, followed established protocol in analyzing the disease and treating those affected. The proof of the correctness of the approach was in the statistics that showed a negative correlation between compliance with vaccination recommendations and frequency of hospitalizations and deaths. One shudders at the thought of what mass rejection of vaccinations for childhood diseases could do to child mortality.
When trust in government institutions is lacking, functions of government may be impeded. Recommended actions, such as addressing global warming, are questioned and opposed. People who do not trust their government to do what is right and fair resist paying taxes. Vital services like health care, education, and transportation are underfunded. Voting becomes a meaningless activity if confidence is lost. Business investment, innovation, and entrepreneurship depend on stable institutions that maintain a favorable legal environment, for example, protection of intellectual property.
A recent article in The Economist traced “healthy skepticism” to the Vietnam war and Watergate scandal in the 1970s. But the article attributes the recent sharp decline in trust to unfounded rejection of the results of the 2020 presidential election and, most directly, erosion of trust in the judiciary as a result of the 2022 overturn of Roe v Wade. The Gallup warning of instability cries for unprecedented national focus. Quoting Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Brennan Center Voting Rights Program, “Democracy works when people believe in it.”