In America: Public Trust in The Government at All‑Time Low in 67 Years
Aaron Kittredge
Meta-analysis of public opinion research indicates that the public’s trust in the government has seen a tremendous decline since the late 50s. Research shows that there are several long- and short-term factors linked to the regression of public trust. Historical shocks, economic insecurity and uncertainty, persistent political polarization, and an increase in public perception of government dysfunctionality have all contributed to the erosion of public trust in the U.S. government.
Presidential Approval Rating VS Public Trust In Govt.
The dual-line chart above provides the side-by-side comparison of Gallup’s Presidential Approval Percentage and the Pew Research Center’s Public Trust in Government data. Both sources use nearly seven decades of survey and polling data from several organizations including the American National Election Studies (ANES), General Social Survey, Gallup Institutional Confidence Polls, the Edelman Trust Barometer, CBS, NYT, ABC, POST, and CNN. Patterns for regression in presidential approval ratings match trends of public shock with government actions, economic crisis, and the polarization of American politics.
Timeline of Public Trust
In recent polling, the Pew Research Center found that only 17% of Americans say they trust the federal government to do what is right “just about always” or “most of the time." Over the last seven decades, public trust has deteriorated due to shocks with the federal government’s behavior.
Public trust began to decrease during the escalation of the Vietnam War. Over the duration of the war, multiple presidents hid the true nature of the U.S.’s involvement in Vietnam. In 1971, Daniel Ellsberg released the Pentagon Papers. The thousands of top-secret government papers released detailed the ongoing losses in the war, government actions to fund the war, and the orders to continue the failing war cause. As a result of the United States’ involvement, over 58,000 American lives were lost. Several presidents concealed the truth from the public and Congress claiming the U.S.’s role in Vietnam was limited. The release of the Pentagon Papers left the public profoundly shocked with the government’s systemic deception.
In 1972, the Watergate scandal occurred where President Richard Nixon attempted to break into the Democratic National Committee headquarters. During his reelection, Nixon had five individuals break into the headquarters at the Watergate office complex to plant listening devices and steal documents of Nixon’s opponents. During the FBI investigation of this scandal, Nixon and his senior aides attempted to obstruct the investigation. Facing impeachment for this act, Nixon resigned as president in 1974. Shortly after, Gerald Ford became president and pardoned Nixon for the alleged crimes he committed during the Watergate scandal. The Watergate scandal was widely described as a moment that “shattered the nation’s trust in its government” and “fundamentally altered how Americans saw their country and their leaders.” The long-term effects of this resulted in greater press scrutiny of the presidency, expansion of congressional oversight, and creation of a political culture more focused on the possibility of government abuse of power.
In the early 2000s, the U.S. went to war with Iraq. The United States government justified the invasion of Iraq claiming the country had weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) and were continuing illegal nuclear, biological, and chemical weapon programs. After the tragedy of the 9/11 attack, Americans’ fear of terrorism guided the public to support the invasion. After post-invasion investigations, the claims of weapons of mass destruction programs were shown to be unsupported. To make matters worse, the U.S. government’s underestimation of Iraqi politics resulted in long-term insurgency. This error in understanding was seen as one of the war’s most significant intelligence failures. The conflict lasted for eight years and resulted in the death of over 4,000 members of the U.S. military. The government misled the public to believe in inaccurate imminent threats of WMDs. The war’s outcomes and the government’s failure resulted in broader skepticism of intelligence agencies, foreign-policy, and government intelligence briefings.
The 2008 financial crisis was the most severe financial collapse since the Great Depression. The U.S. housing market plummeted due to mortgaged-backed securities, assets lost liquidity, and financial institutions faced tremendous losses. Widespread panic spread throughout global markets requiring government emergency intervention to prevent systemic collapse. In the United States, financial institutions required the federal government and Federal Reserve to provide emergency liquidity and bailouts. The crisis damaged public trust as Americans saw the situation as evidence of systemic failure and a lack of security in the foundation of the country’s financial systems.
Government Polarization & Dysfunctionality Creates Distrust
Perceived political polarization reenforces the declining rate of trust in the government. In the last two decades, both the Democratic and Republican Party have become more polarized in party stances. Research has found trust in government is higher among members of the party that controls the presidency. This finding suggests trust is no longer following the performance of the government, but now follows partisan identity. Polarization continues to grow due to the behavior of the Democratic and Republican parties, the political media’s behavior, the normalization of tribalistic rhetoric, people’s identities being viewed solely through partisan divisions, electoral voting systems that encourage partisanship, and the condonement or justification of violent acts by the public and influential political figures.
The belief in government dysfunctionality inversely correlates with the public’s trust in the government. Government shutdowns and gridlock worsen public perceptions of the government’s ability to meet core responsibilities. National polling during the 2025 shutdown found that Americans increasingly believed that shutdowns are bad for the country and harmful to the people. As the shutdown carried on, public opinion of government performance worsened and national leadership approval declined.
