Public trust in government near historic lows
Public trust in the government remains near historic lows. Only 17% of Americans today say they can trust the government in Washington to do what is right “just about always” (3%) or “most of the time” (14%).
When the National Election Study began asking about trust in government in 1958, about three-quarters of Americans trusted the federal government to do the right thing almost always or most of the time. Trust in government began eroding during the 1960s, amid the escalation of the Vietnam War, and the decline continued in the 1970s with the Watergate scandal and worsening economic struggles. Confidence in government recovered in the mid-1980s before falling again in the mid-1990s. But as the economy grew in the late 1990s so too did confidence in government. Public trust reached a three-decade high shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but declined quickly thereafter. Since 2007, the share saying they can trust the government always or most of the time has not surpassed 30%.
click and drag in the plot area to zoom in  | x who trust the govt in washington always or most of the time  | 100  | e  | spe con  | the  | e  | if  | belies  | i  | i  | i  | 80  | 60  | 40  | i  | 20  | i  | i  | 1960  | 1970  | 1990  | 2000  | 2010  | 1980  | moving average  | individual polls  | click legend items to remove them from chart 