Free course. One paragraph per day.
Political trust in the federal government has been gradually falling on average, with ups and downs along the way. The last measurement by the Pew Research Center in 2019 was the lowest since measurements began in 1958. (Figure 1.) By comparison, data from the World Values Survey (Wave 7) show that 44 of 77 countries surveyed (more than half) had higher levels of political trust in their national governments than the U.S. did in 2017. Both social and political trust tend to be highest in countries where most people wealthy, well-educated, and satisfied with their lives.[i]
[i] Newton, Stolle, and Zmerli (2018), pp. 47-48.
Excerpted from Political Trust & Distrust, Part 2 of 2.
Image: Pew Research Center & USGSS.
