Confidence in Local Institutions

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Trust and Government

The public trust in government has become an increasingly salient issue in recent years as many governments around the world have illustrated substantial volatility in their governance and their economies. In recent years there have been regime changes in the Middle East and North Africa that have been largely fueled by a mistrust of the governments. However, even in modern nations, there is often a deep mistrust of government on the State and Federal level. This makes it incredibly important for local governments to function efficiently and effectively as they are on the frontlines in regard to the political system for the local population. In the United States, a majority of the population feel that big government is the institutional form that is the greatest threat to America's future; significantly larger than big business or big labor. Therefore, local governments have many obstacles to overcome to in order to maintain the public's confidence. This paper will examine the public confidence in government in the U.S. at differing levels and discuss the relevance of these opinions on a local scale.

Introduction

The landscape of opinions about the government's ability to maintain its legitimacy in the U.S. has apparently shifted over the last few generations.

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For example, in the 1960s, a majority of Americans had favorable opinions about the government (Carez, 2014). However, since this time a number of scandals and other events have steadily driven this number down. One recent Gallup poll reveals that a strong majority believe that big government is the biggest threat when compared to big business as well as big labor (Riffkin, 2015). However, this figure, currently 69% of Americans who feel is the biggest threat to the future of the country, is actually somewhat down in comparison to polling results that were collected in 2013; most likely due to revelations about national surveillance programs that surfaced at the time.

Main Body

Whatever the case may be, it seems clear that most Americans do not trust the Government. Instead, nearly everyone (75%) says that the government works properly just "some of the time" (Carez, 2014). These figure are roughly exactly opposite to previous generations such as in In 1958, when the American National Election Study (A.N.E.S.) first asked Americans if they trusted the government in Washington to do what was right, 73% of adults said they put their faith in the federal government "most" or "some" of the time….....

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"Confidence In Local Institutions" (2016, January 15) Retrieved June 29, 2025, from
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"Confidence In Local Institutions", 15 January 2016, Accessed.29 June. 2025,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/confidence-local-institutions-2157575
   

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