Bartuska 1
Paradigm Shift: The people’s trust in the American government
*note: I am very sorry about my messy citations and shorthand ideas
 Introduction:
o Define trust
 Trust can mean different things to different people. Some define political trust
as “a commodity that helps political actors achieve their goals, while others
conceptualize it as people’s willingness to follow the political leaders of others”
(Hetherington 9). However, Hetherington suggests that political trust is “the
degree to which people perceive that government is producing outcomes
consistent with their expectations” (9).
o Other orientating material
 Democracies, obviously, rely on political trust due to the election process
(Hetherington 12).
 “In 1964, three quarters of the public said that they trusted the government to
do the right thing most of the time. Today, only a quarter of Americans admit to
such trust” (WHY PEOPLE 1).
o Thesis statement
 In the 1960s, the people’s trust in the American government was at its peak, but
quickly fell due to many social, political, and economic factors, a fall so
devastating that the percentage of trust in the government never recovered,
even in today’s time.
 Trust was at an all-time high during the mid-1960s.
o There are many different reasons for this high percentage.
 It was an era of economic prosperity (Hetherington 18)
 Therefore, there is a link between economic booms and increase in trust
 During periods of trust, it should be noted that sweeping initiatives are able to
pass, an example being Johnson’s Great Society (citation? Where did I get this
from?).
 Personalization of politics
 At first, the public was behind the Vietnam War, mainly because the
government made it sound as if the war was in America’s favor. However, this
backing would only last for a short period of time (Hetherington 18).
 JFK had an optimistic charm that the people loved (Hetherington 18)
 Other features of both JFK and Johnson
 There are various factors that aid in the decline of political trust. (These points are outlined as
general trends in Hetherington (p 16), however, they apply to the situation in the 1970s)
 Obviously, there is no one factor (PEOPLE PRESS- DISTRUST).
 “Declining trust in government in the United States was part of a larger trend
also affecting much of Western Europe during the middle to late 1960s”
(Hetherington 19).
Bartuska 2
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“Canada, Britain, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway,
Sweden, and Ireland have also seen decline” (WHY PEOPLE 2).
 Therefore, the state of Western Europe did not immediately effect the
United States, but similar trends occurred a few years later in America.
POLICY SATISFACTION
 “Distrust of government soars when the public is unhappy with the way things
are going in the country” (PEOPLE PRESS- DISTRUST).
 Dissatisfaction with the expanding welfare state coupled with the problematic
social issues wounded America’s trust in the government (Hetherington 19).
 At this time, there was a rise in expectations that failed
 Racial issues also caused tension between individuals as well as between the
government and the people.
ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS
 Economy plays a huge role because it is something that the people understand
and is tangible in statistics and numbers (Hetherington 22)
 For example, it is very easy to point out inflation, and unemployment, both of
which were high in the 1970s, which was a direct contrast to the economic
boom the decade prior (Hetherington 22).
MAJOR POLITICAL SCANDALS
 Watergate…
MEDIA NEGATIVITY
 Rise of TV etc
 Made scandals and issues seem all the more worse than before.
WAR
 Vietnam War
 People had thought they were winning, but this was made clear to not
be the case through the media, as people began to see the reality of the
situation as photographs were made public (Hetherington 22).
Therefore, people felt slighted by the government and the media
because they felt as though information was being hidden from them.
 Because the war ended without a definitive winner, the people felt as
though countless lives and billions of dollars had been wasted (citation
needed).
PRESIDENT’S PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS
 Nixon, ties into scandal…
SIZE AND SCOPE OF GOVERNMENT
 “No longer was it sufficient for the federal government to provide peace and
prosperity to maintain the public’s trust; now it had to end poverty, solve racial
discord, and protect the American family” (Hetherington 20).
Bartuska 3
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People began to distrust the federal government, however, state and local
ratings still remained relatively high because they are closer and more directly
tied to the people.
o PARTISAN SPLIT
 Dems trust more than republicans
 “A second element is presidential politics. Trust in government is typically higher
among members of the party that controls the White House than among
members of the “out” party. However, Republicans’ views of government
change more dramatically, depending on which party holds power, than do
Democrats’. Republicans are more trusting of government when the GOP holds
power than Democrats are when the Democrats are in charge.” (PEOPLE PRESSDISTRUST).
When trust was at an all-time low
o Carter’s presidency
 Carter tried to convince the people that he would be able to fix the government,
but was unsuccessful, only aiding in the mistrust (Hetherington 22).
 Raised expectations, promised people that he would “never lie” and
“clean up the government” (Hetherington 22).
o Tie between lack of trust and the push for direct democracy
 Discuss founding fathers as a prime example (Hetherington 12)
 Jeffrey Kane notes that the drive for direct democracy is the result of a low
political trust, specifically in the 1970s and 1980s (Hetherington 12).
After
o Trust grew with the Reagan administration, declined during his second term with the
Iran-Contra scandal (see Hetherington 23 for more info on this)
o The people’s trust was never restored to anywhere close to its levels in the mid-1960s.
From scandals to the recession, the people’s trust was not healing by any means.
o The only time since 1981 that trust peaked over 50% was in the months following 9/11
(THE ATLANTIC).
Trust today
o 2008 financial crisis (PEOPLE PRESS- DISTRUST)
o As of 2010, according to the Pew Research Center, distrust was at 80% (THE ATLANTIC).
o Why there is mistrust today
 Tie earlier reasoning into life today
 Partisanship (THE ATLANTIC)
o People respond to politics with distrust even though it is not always justified
(Hetherington 13).
o People are frustrated more than they are angry (PEOPLE PRESS- DISTRUST)
o Americans today have more confidence than they are willing to admit in polls
 Address error in findings?
Conclusion
Bartuska 4
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Summarize main points
Restate thesis
End by asking question about the future of public trust and what can be done to
reconcile the differences that have been so deeply established in the last 50 years
Works Cited
"Distrust, Discontent, Anger and Partisan Rancor." Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center,
16 Apr. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. <http://www.people-press.org/2010/04/18/distrustdiscontent-anger-and-partisan-rancor/>.
Hetherington, Marc. Why Trust Matters. Princeton: Princeton UP, 2005. Print.
Nye, Joseph, Philip Zelikow, and David King, eds. Why People Don't Trust Government.
Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1997. Print.
"Public Trust in Governmetn: 1958-2014." Pew Research Center. Pew Research Center, 13 Nov.
2014. Web. 22 Oct. 2015. <http://www.people-press.org/2014/11/13/public-trust-ingovernment/>.
Thompson, Derek. "80 Percent of Americans Don't Trust the Government. Here's Why." The
Atlantic. Atlantic Monthly Group, 19 Apr. 2010. Web. 22 Oct. 2015.
<http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/04/80-percent-of-americans-donttrust-the-government-heres-why/39148/>.
Bartuska 5
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http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2010/04/80-percent-of-americans-donttrust-the-government-heres-why/39148/
http://www.people-press.org/2014/11/13/public-trust-in-government/
http://www.people-press.org/2010/04/18/distrust-discontent-anger-and-partisanrancor/
NOT YET USED
o http://www.people-press.org/2013/04/15/state-govermnents-viewedfavorably-as-federal-rating-hits-new-low/
o http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/04/upshot/the-long-decline-of-trust-ingovernment-and-why-that-can-be-patriotic.html
o http://www.cbsnews.com/news/why-dont-americans-trust-government/
o http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/poll/govt/summary.html
o http://www.thedemocraticstrategist.org/strategist/2011/03/rebuilding_public_
trust_in_gov.php