Americans' trust in political leaders, public at new lows

Americans' trust in their political leaders and the public to make political decisions has dived to new lows, a new Gallup poll has found.

The survey asked U.S. adults how much they trust "the men and women in political life in this country who either hold or are running for political office" and how much trust they have in the American people to make "judgments under our democratic system about the issues facing our country."

It showed that 43 percent of Americans trust political leaders while 56 percent trust Americans people. The percentages are down roughly 20 percentage points since 2004 and are currently at new lows in Gallup's trends.

These items are included in Gallup's annual Governance poll, conducted each September, alongside questions measuring Americans' trust in the three branches of the federal government, state and local governments, and the mass media.

Trust in most of these institutions is lower now than a decade ago. This is possibly a symptom of Americans' low levels of satisfaction with the way things are going in the country. In the past decade, Americans' top concerns have been the economy, the Iraq War and the way the government is working in general.

However, while levels of trust in political leaders, the American people and the mass media all continue to erode this year, trust in the the federal, state and local governments has improved.

The high point in Americans' trust in the public was 86 percent in 1976, and the high point in trust in political leaders was 68 percent in 1974, just months before President Richard Nixon resigned the presidency because of the Watergate scandal.

There has been a steady decline in Americans' trust in political leaders and the public over the past decade, except during last presidential election. The Americans' trust in political leaders rose to 66 percent in September 2008.

The poll found Democrats have more trust (61 percent) in political leaders than Republicans (37 percent), with independents being the least trusting (30 percent) among the major political groups.

Currently, 58 percent of Democrats, 55 percent of independents and 53 percent of Republicans say they have trust in the American people to make judgments about the issues facing the country. All party groups have significantly less trust in the American people today than in the mid-2000s.

Whoever wins the November presidential election, the winner will be governing at a time when Americans' trust in nearly all major U.S. institutions is at or near historical lows, Gallup said. Enditem