A Gallup poll from June of this year* shows that trust in
government is decaying following its post-Sept. 11 surge, but
remains above where it was prior to the terrorist attacks. When
Gallup asked Americans how much of the time they could trust the
government in Washington, D.C., to do what is right, 45% of
Americans said "just about always" or "most of the time," while
half (51%) said only "some of the time." The percentage saying
"just about always" or "most of the time" is down sharply from last
October, at which time 60% gave this response. Still, the current
figure is the second highest recorded by Gallup since 1992.
The response to this question when it was asked following Sept.
11 stands as evidence of a public surge in governmental trust
during a time of crisis. This rally effect also manifested itself
with well-documented increases in George W. Bush's approval ratings
and Congress' approval ratings. Nevertheless, trust in government
is still lower today than it was in the 1950s and '60s. According
to University of Michigan's National Election Studies data, even
the initial post-Sept. 11 reading on trust is lower than the levels
observed as recently as 1968, when 61% of Americans trusted the
government to do what was right always or most of the time.
International and Domestic Issues
Public trust in the government's handling of both domestic and
international affairs has also returned to more typical levels
after surging in response to the terrorist attacks. Considering the
international nature of the governmental reaction to the attacks,
(i.e., the war on terrorism), it is not surprising that the rally
was bigger for international issues than for domestic affairs.
Twenty-one percent of Americans currently say they have a "great
deal" of trust in the way the government handles international
problems. Another 54% say they have a "fair amount" of trust, while
18% say "not very much" and 6% indicate they have no trust at all.
Public trust in this area remains relatively unchanged from
February 2002, but trust is down significantly from last October.
At that time, more than a third of the public (36%) said they had a
"great deal" of trust in the way the government handled
international problems. The 21% expressing a great deal of
confidence in the government's handling of international problems
is still higher than every reading Gallup has obtained since 1974,
including the 14% measured immediately prior to the terrorist
attacks.
Trust in the government's handling of domestic issues is also
beginning to return to more normal pre-Sept. 11 levels. The June
survey shows 13% of Americans say they have a "great deal" of trust
in this regard and 54% have a "fair amount." Conversely, 23% say
they do not have very much trust in the government's handling of
domestic issues and 8% have none at all. In the fall of 2001,
nearly a quarter of the public (24%) said they had a "great deal"
of trust, while 53% had a "fair amount." Again, the 13% expressing
a great deal of confidence in the government is higher than any
pre-Sept. 11 measurement, and is more than double what Gallup
observed in a Sept. 7-10 poll.
Key Points
Public trust in government, both on international and domestic
issues, has clearly waned since Sept. 11, but is still stronger
than before the terrorist attacks. The upcoming mid-term election
campaigns will give Americans an opportunity to hear elected
officials address a broad range of domestic and international
issues -- the results will help determine whether the Sept. 11
rally effect will linger well into the next year, or largely fade
away.
*Results are based on telephone interviews with 1,005 national
adults, aged 18 and older, conducted June 17-19, 2002. For results
based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95%
confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error is
±3%.
