Story Highlights
- No institution’s trust score has improved significantly over the past year
- Trust in four institutions is now at an all-time low
- Largest party gaps seen for presidency and public schools
WASHINGTON, DC — Americans’ trust in major societal institutions has not improved over the past year, following a decline in public trust in 2022.
Last year, Gallup recorded significant decline in public confidence in 11 of the 16 institutions it tracks each year, with the presidency and the Supreme Court suffering the most. The share of Americans expressing a lot or a fair amount of confidence in these measures fell by 15 and 11 percentage points, respectively.
Neither score improved significantly in the latest poll, with confidence in the Court now at 27% and the presidency at 26%. However, the survey was conducted June 1-22, 2023, before the Supreme Court issued decisions affecting affirmative action in education, college loan forgiveness, and LGBTQ+ Americans’ access to creative services . Any or all of these decisions could have damaged the image of the Court as well as that of President Joe Biden, who spoke out against these decisions.
Public trust in each of the other 14 institutions remains near last year’s relatively low level, with none of the scores significantly worsening or improving.
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Overall, the new poll finds that small businesses enjoy the most public trust, with 65% of Americans having a lot or a fair amount of confidence in them. A majority, 60 percent, also have great confidence in the military, while less than half (43 percent) feel this way about the second highest-rated institution, the police.
The medical system and the Church or organized religion round out the top five highest-rated institutions each year, although with meager trust ratings of 34% and 32%, respectively. Six others – the U.S. Supreme Court, banks, public schools, the presidency, big tech companies and unions – have between 25 and 27 percent confidence.
The five lowest-rated institutions — newspapers, the criminal justice system, television news, big business and Congress — are trusted by fewer than 20 percent of Americans, with Congress alone in the single digits at 8 percent. .
Gallup also included higher education in the list of rated institutions this year. Analyse of the results and their more limited trend, from 2015 and 2018, will be reported separately.
Many institutions in or near Rock Bottom
Most institutions rated this year are within three points of their all-time low trust score, including four that are at or tied for their all-time low. These are the police, public schools, big tech companies, and big business.
Only four institutions have a trust score significantly above their historic low: the military, small businesses, unions and banks. However, the lowest levels for these institutions were recorded more than ten years ago, while the recent trend for each of them is downward.
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The historically depressed nature of current ratings is evident in the average trust scores of nine institutions that Gallup has consistently tracked since 1979. That average fell to a new low of 26% this year. Although down only one point from 2022, it is 10 points lower than 2020.
Trust has generally been on a downward trend since reaching 48% in 1979 and remaining at nearly 45% in the 1980s. It averaged closer to 40% in the 1980s. 1990s and early 2000s, before dropping to 30% in the 2010s. Last year was the first time it fell below 30%.
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The average trust level for the 14 institutions tracked regularly since 1993 is also 26%, and also one point below last year’s lowest for this trend.
Some institutions more polarizing than others
Seven of the institutions evaluated this year get significantly higher trust ratings from one major party than the other.
- The largest partisan differences are observed for the presidency (39 points) and public schools (34 points), on which Democrats are much more positive than Republicans. Democrats also express far more confidence than Republicans in unions and newspapers.
- Republicans have significantly more confidence than Democrats in the Supreme Court (28 points), the Church or organized religion (24 points) and the police (20 points).
- Independents’ confidence more closely resembles that of Democrats than Republicans when it comes to religion and the police, while it falls halfway between the two groups on other polarizing institutions.
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Partisan trust ratings are similar to last year for all institutions except the police, with Democrats’ trust increasing from 29% in 2022 to 40% today. Longer term, partisan confidence in the presidency changes depending on the party of the sitting president – while the party gap has widened over time for public schools, the Supreme Court, religion, the police, newspapers and the medical system.
Conclusion
Americans’ trust in institutions in 2023 represents a continuation of the historic trust deficit recorded a year ago. None of the 15 institutions assessed each year have managed to improve their image, and many have remained at or near historic lows. Although not encouraging, the good news is that no situation has deteriorated significantly.
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