[Peace-discuss] What US citizens think

[C. G. Estabrook]

	Confidence in Congress: Lowest Ever for Any U.S. Institution
	Just 12% of Americans express confidence in Congress
	by Jeffrey M. Jones

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's annual update on confidence in institutions
finds just 12% of Americans expressing confidence in Congress, the
lowest of the 16 institutions tested this year, and the worst rating
Gallup has measured for any institution in the 35-year history of
this question.

Gallup first asked about confidence in institutions in 1973,
repeating the question biannually through 1983, and obtaining annual
updates since then. This year's update comes from a June 9-12 Gallup
Poll.

In the latest update, Congress ranks just below HMOs, for whom 13% of
Americans express "a great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence. Big
business, the criminal justice system, organized labor, newspapers,
television news, and the presidency all receive relatively low
confidence ratings.

In contrast, Americans express the most confidence in the military,
as they have each year since 1988 (with the exception of 1997, when
small business edged it out). Small business ranks second in the
current poll, just ahead of the police. These are the only three
institutions that for whom a majority of Americans express a high
degree of confidence.

 From 1973 through 1985, organized religion was the top rated
institution. Today, just 48% of Americans are confident in organized
religion, one of its lowest ratings ever. The lowest score for
religion to date was 45% in 2002 at the height of the Catholic
Church's priest sex abuse scandal.

Crisis of Confidence?

Prior to this year's 12% confidence rating for Congress, HMOs had the
registered the lowest historical score, of 13% in 2002. This rating
does not include the 45% of Americans who now say they have "some"
confidence in Congress; a nearly equal proportion -- 41% -- say they
have "little" or "no" confidence in Congress.

Even though the Supreme Court (32% "great deal" or "quite a lot" of
confidence) and presidency (26%) are rated more positively than
Congress, all institutions are at or near their lowest ratings to
date. The rating for the presidency is just one percentage point
above its worst rating of 25% from 2007, while the Supreme Court's
rating is its worst.

Government institutions are not alone in experiencing a decline in
public confidence. While only one institution (banks) has seen a
significant decline in confidence over the past year, all have
dropped compared with 2004, the last presidential election year. The
three government institutions and banks have had the greatest drops
in confidence over that time, while the military and big business
have seen the least change.

Long-term changes as above are usually more evident in these
confidence measures than year-to-year changes. The current data are
no exception -- there has been little change from the 2007 ratings,
aside from a 9-point drop in confidence for banks (from 41% to 32%).
Beyond that, the only other significant changes are modest increases
in reported confidence for the police (58% up from 54%) and the
medical system (35% up from 31%), but both cases mainly reflect a
rebound to 2006 levels after experiencing declines in 2007.

Implications

The poor economy and lack of effective government action on important
issues such as gas prices, the Iraq War, and immigration help
contribute to the erosion of trust and confidence in government
institutions. Earlier this week, Gallup reported historically low job
approval ratings for the three branches of the federal government.
These confidence in institutions ratings underscore the public's
frustration and signal an electorate that may be hungry for change in
Washington come the fall's elections.

<http://www.gallup.com/poll/108142/Confidence-Congress-Lowest-Ever-Any-US-Institution.aspx>