25 Percent in US Confident of Elected Officials

Twenty-five percent of American adults have at least a fair amount of confidence that elected officials will act in the public interest. That figure includes only 3 percent who have a great deal of confidence.[1]

Pew Research data shows that 75 percent have "not too much" confidence or less. That figure includes 23% with no confidence whatsoever in elected politicians.

Even the news media inspires more confidence than those who win elections and seek to govern. Forty percent have at least a fair amount of confidence that the news media will act in the public interest.

Moving up the scale, 45 percent have confidence in business leaders, and 49 percent say the same about religious leaders.

The only groups measured by Pew that inspire a lot of confidence are the military (80 percent) and scientists (79 percent).

There are big partisan differences in the data. Most Democrats have confidence in the news media (58 percent) along with hardly any Republicans (16 percent). Most Republicans (62 percent) have confidence in business leaders compared to just a third of Democrats (32 percent).

Neither party has much confidence in elected politicians. But Republicans are less skeptical than Democrats. That’s not surprising given that Republicans control the White House and both branches of Congress.

The Number of the Day one year ago today noted that it’s been 45 years since a majority of Americans trusted the federal government. A review of recent data confirms that it’s now been 46 years.

Footnotes:

1. Pew Research Center, "Democracy and government, the U.S. political system, elected officials and governmental institutions," April 26, 2018

Each weekday, Scott Rasmussen’s Number of the Day explores interesting and newsworthy topics at the intersection of culture, politics, and technology. Columns published on Ballotpedia reflect the views of the author.​

Scott Rasmussen is founder and president of the Rasmussen Media Group. He is the author of "Mad as Hell: How the Tea Party Movement Is Fundamentally Remaking Our Two-Party System," "In Search of Self-Governance," and "The People’s Money: How Voters Will Balance the Budget and Eliminate the Federal Debt." Read more reports from Scott Rasmussen — Click Here Now.