Trust in Government

Among Republicans, opinions about the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. differ considerably by source of news.

The United Nations is broadly credited with promoting peace and human rights as younger adults are more supportive of cooperation with other countries.

For years, public trust in the federal government has hovered at near-record lows. That remains the case today, as the United States struggles with a pandemic and economic recession.

About half the experts we canvassed predict humans' use of technology will weaken democracy by 2030, while a third expect technology will strengthen it as reformers fight back against democracy's foes.

Americans express overwhelmingly favorable opinions of federal agencies like the Postal Service, the National Park Service, NASA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) despite historically low levels of public trust in the federal government.

The more confident people are that members of powerful groups behave unethically, the less likely they are to have confidence in that group’s performance.

Members of Congress and technology leaders are rated lower in empathy, transparency and ethics; public gives higher scores to military leaders, public school principals and police officers

Partisans have different levels of confidence when it comes to the type of personnel who hold government jobs – presidential appointees or career employees.

Americans believe trust has declined in the U.S., whether it involves citizens’ faith in each other or their confidence in the government.

Public confidence in scientists is on the upswing, and six-in-ten Americans say scientists should play an active role in policy debates about scientific issues, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.