Public Trust in Government

Public trust in government has been declining since the 1960s. The effect of the declining trust has been proven to hinder domestic policy, foreign policy, and influence elections. As stated by Hetherington & Husser (2012), “Put simply, people need trust in government to support more government”. Now, trust in government has become the center of attention for our government, the media, and American citizens alike. Therefore, I will briefly discuss the history of the decline in public trust, current public trust, and actions that could be taken in order to restore public trust.
The history of the decline has been pinpointed to the decade of the 1960’s. During this decade, we faced “diverse social conflict, followed by the Watergate scandals, and a decade of economic decline” Milakovich & Gordon (2013). Public trust continued to plummet and bleed over into the late 1970’s during the “taxpayers revolt” and was “followed by decentralization, deregulation, and devolution of decision-making authority from the federal to state and local governments, in part as a reaction against perceived bureaucratic excess” Milakovich & Gordon (2013). It wasn’t until the 1980’s that the trust began to escalate during the first term of President Ronald Regan. President Regan brought hopes of “tax cuts, higher corporate profits, and less regulation of the economy” Hetherington & Husser (2012). However, it wasn’t long before the trust began to push downwards during President Regan’s second term, when the Iran-Contra affair became public. The historic low point for trust occurred during the 1994 congressional election, when the Republican Party took control of the House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years. The trend during this continued decline tends to be linked to the “government’s ability to deliver services, maintain economic growth, protect citizens, and resolve basic social issues” Milakovich & Gordon (2013). As the trend continues the suspected action among our government would be to gain public trust, however, in more recent years, the polls show differently. In more recent years, like in the early 2000’s, President George W. Bush gained support for a short time after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but it quickly turned for the worse after many years of “unpopular wars, outsourcing jobs, tax breaks for the rich, and loss of income for nearly 90 percent of the entire U.S. workforce” Milakovich & Gordon (2013). Americans were tired of hearing the same promises, only to have the government fail to deliver on them. Now, with the election of President Barrack Obama, high hopes have been set to restore our economy, “but the nation has faced continued hardships and economic difficulty since” Milakovich & Gordon (2013).
Actions need to be taken on the government’s part in order to restore a growing problem in our nation. There have been numerous studies that have outlined why a change in public trust has been swayed for the worse, but nothing has been done to correct it. In my evaluation of these studies, the most important issues causing these problems seems to be the extreme disconnect between the parties, corruption, current economic situation, and the handling of international issues. Republicans are more likely to focus on foreign policy while Democrats are focused on social welfare. There seems to be no common ground between the two parties, resulting in trust issues among the public. Secondly, “allegations of misconduct on the part of Congress exert greater influence on trust in government” to include the House Banking scandal and the Post Office scandal, “each led to an approximate 4 percent decline in trust in the government” Chanley & Rahn (2000). Thirdly, when the economy has turned for the worse, causing unemployment, higher federal budget, and public debts are increasing, the public support is proven to decline. Two examples of this occurred during the deteriorating economy during the early 1990’s, resulting in the election of Bill Clinton, and of the recent the ballooning public debt in the late 2000’s that would contribute to the election of President Barrack Obama. Lastly, the handling of sensitive international issues, as shown in numerous unpopular wars – Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan, can cause a rapid decline in trust amongst Americans.
As this country has learned from the past, trust in government has important implications for our elected officials. Trust with then provide important implications for public evaluations and the public’s policy preferences. These, “in turn, play a large role in shaping election outcomes and the direction of public policy” Chanley & Rahn (2000). However, what can be done in order to restore this lost trust? The answer isn’t that simple, because our nation has grown so diverse over the years that being able to satisfy everyone’s needs is literally impossible. Yes, in the past our nation has had more trust in government, but in the past, the focus on trust was very scarce. Media over the last 50 years has played a huge role in exposing the dark side of government, while in the past it wasn’t a factor. Although satisfying every American cannot be done, hopefully the faith that Americans once had in their government can be restored, and we can once again believe that the officials we elect for office hold the same values and beliefs that we hold dear.

Chanley, V. A., Rudolph, T. J., & Rahn, W. M. (2000). The origins and consequence public trust in government: A time series analysis. The Public Opinion Quarte 64(3), 239-256. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3078718

Hetherington, M. J., & Husser, J. A. (2012). How trust matters: The changing politic relevance of political trust. American Journal of Political Science , 56
(2), 312-325. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/23187102

Milakovich, M. E., & Gordon, G. J. (2013). Chapter 2. Public administration in America (11th ed., pp. 49-76). Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.