Americans’ Distrust of Government Reach Crisis Levels: New Survey

A new report checks the pulse of the people and what they think about the federal government. And the Partnership for Public Service found that overall, the American public is growing more distrustful of Washington, with the report calling it a “crisis.”

According to the “State of Public Trust in Government,” which surveyed 800 Americans earlier this year, 23 percent of those responding say they trust the federal government, down from 35 percent in 2022. 63 percent say they do not trust the government. 13 percent are neutral.

Only nine percent of Republicans trust the government, down from 23 percent in 2022. Democrats trust the government more, but those numbers are slipping. 39 percent say they trust the government down from 52 percent in 2022. 19 percent of independents trust the government.

In its report, the Partnership notes that distrust in government has accelerated in recent years and that “These trends have serious consequences for the country and for the health of our democracy.”

The report notes that when people don’t trust the government, they are less likely to vote and more likely to become disengaged, and “With less engagement, the public feels less empowered to influence government—and, in turn, government ‘hears’ people’s needs and preferences less.”

Inside the Numbers

Digging deeper into the numbers, just 15 percent of those responding to the Partnership survey believe the federal government is transparent, down from 21 percent in 2022. 66 percent say the federal government is incompetent, up ten percent from the prior survey.

85 percent say the federal government is “wasteful” up 15 percentage points from 2022, and nearly 75 percent say the government is “corrupt.”

Only 31% ay the impact of the federal government on the U.S. is positive, down from 42% in 2022. At the same time, 66% say the federal government has a negative impact on the nation.

Service Satisfaction

It’s not all doom and gloom. When you step back from the big picture and look at the micro level, you’ll find that in general, the “public is satisfied with many commonly used services,” with a few exceptions.

Overall, 48 percent say they’re satisfied with the services they’re receiving from the federal government.

There are large majorities of satisfied respondents for services such as applying for Medicare, filing for Social Security, passing through an airport checkpoint, and getting a passport.

Applying for student aid was one notable exception.

The public also overwhelmingly agreed that a strong civil service is key to democracy, with 91 percent saying “competent civil servants” are critical to a fully functioning democracy.

And the public by and large wants politics out of the civil service, a battle that’s going right now over the possibility of a Schedule F return. 95 percent say civil servants should be hired and promoted based on merit and not their political beliefs. However, just 23 percent of respondents believe the civil service is currently nonpartisan.

Road to Improvement

The report recommended ways to improve public trust.

Those include:

·         Improving federal talent pipelines while prioritizing leadership development around the values of public service.

·         Ensuring that agencies commit to providing the best possible experience for the public, using modern technology and data to make “informed decisions about program effectiveness and outcomes.”

·         Holding leaders accountable for agency performance.

·         Strengthening non-partisan guardrails for the civil service.