Gallup states that Americans’ confidence in institutions has been lacking for most of the past 15 years. Moreover, their trust in key institutions hit a new low this year, with significant declines for 11 of the 16 institutions tested, and no improvements for any of them.
Most of the institutions Gallup tracks are at historic lows, and average confidence across all institutions is now four points lower than the prior low.
The confidence crisis extends beyond political institutions at a time when a near record-low 13% of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the U.S. Confidence in institutions is unlikely to improve until the economy gets better — but it is unclear if confidence will ever get back to the levels Gallup measured in decades past, even with an improved economy.
Americans’ confidence in newspapers and television news has fallen to all-time low points. Just 16% of U.S. adults now say they have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in newspapers and 11% are confident in television news. Both are down five percentage points since last year.
Source: Brenan, M. (2022, July 28). Media Confidence Ratings at Record Lows. Politics, Gallup.