Analyzing Public Trust in Government Agencies
By David Guirgis and Lew Blank
Public trust in the government as a whole has remained at historic lows, with the caveat that trust in government upticks slightly among members of the party currently in control of the presidency. But within the federal government, some institutions are far more well-regarded among voters than others. New Data for Progress polling explores the public’s perception of various agencies, including across demographic and ideological lines, in an effort to explore what drives the perception that an institution is “elite,” and how that affects the public’s trust in the agency in question.
As a whole, voters hold the most confidence in the U.S. armed forces and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to have the nation’s best interests as their top priority. It’s not surprising that the armed forces carry the highest popularity. More than two-thirds of all voters believe either “a great deal” or “quite a lot” that they have the nation’s best interests as their highest priority. Demographically, they are the entity most representative of the population. In addition, their ability to help with the costs of education and healthcare — combined with voters’ support for authority and the feelings of security associated with the military — is popular with voters. NASA is also relatively popular with voters, carrying 47 percent confidence among voters that it has the nation’s best interests as a top priority. Conversely, the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are not perceived as having the best interests of the nation as their top priority. Seventy-one percent and 72 percent of voters surveyed, respectively, do not trust the House and Senate.
When we break these numbers down by political party, however, it is clear that trust in government is more split along partisan lines. Among Republicans, the only government agency retaining a majority of confidence is the U.S. armed forces; the majority of Republicans do not believe that any federal government apparatus outside of the armed forces has the nation’s best interests at heart. Democrats, on the other hand, have more confidence in government agencies than Republicans, even in cases where both parties do not hold full trust in a certain agency (as is the case with the State Department).
Next, we asked voters for their confidence in various armed groups, and we find that the U.S. armed forces again retain the most trust among voters that both their personal safety and the nation’s safety are the top priority. In fact, it is the only armed group surveyed that holds a clear majority of voters’ trust. Voters are largely split on the roles of federal law enforcement and the CIA, but do not trust legally armed civilians to have their safety or the safety of the nation as the top priority. State and local law enforcement retain a slight majority of voters’ trust. Notably, in the case of local law enforcement, voters trust that their safety is its top priority more than they trust that the nation’s safety is its top priority.
It is important to note that among minority populations, voters tend to hold less confidence in the ability of government armed groups to keep themselves and the country safe. Voters who identify as Black or Latino/a are most likely to have some or very little confidence in the ability of state and local law enforcement to keep them safe, and are similarly skeptical of their ability to keep the country safe.
Broadly, we find that while voters have a general level of distrust toward the government and government agencies, as indicated by the low trust levels that the House and Senate carry, certain agencies still have the trust of a majority of voters to have the nation’s best interests at heart. The U.S. armed forces have the highest level of topline trust, and NASA still carries a healthy level of trust across the board (perhaps due in part to the nostalgia NASA evokes). Across partisan lines, it is clear that Democrats place a higher level of trust in government agencies than Republicans, while Republicans are more likely to trust law enforcement.