The Issue Of Public Trust

Propaganda can be seen all throughout the world. Propaganda is extensively rampant in politics and wars. Many events have occurred in the last 20 years that have tested how much American citizens trust the government, and the numbers have only decreased. “Fewer than three-in-ten Americans have expressed trust in the federal government in every major national

     Secondly, trusting our government and its leaders is another problem facing American in the 21st century. In “The Circle of Governments” Niccolo Machiavelli states, “As the human race increased, the necessity for uniting themselves for defense made itself felt; the better to attain this object they chose the strongest and most courageous from amongst themselves and placed him at their head promising to obey him.”(230). I take this statement to mean that ever since the beginning of time we have

History is centered on a liberator to safeguard citizens in times of crisis. However, the “saviors” in our country utilized their power unjustly. Also, unequal distribution of wealth to the citizens led to class distinctions in society. Howard Zinn stated, “More than 80 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with the conditions in the United States and distrust the government and military.” Individuals concealed their unhappiness by consuming alcohol and drugs. Howard Zinn describes our country’s predicament as “A society so stratified by wealth and education lends itself naturally to envy and class anger.”(pg 637) How is the United States advancing economically or socially without the trust from its people? Even though this country is the 2nd largest economic power in the world, individuals are skeptical of the role of the government. People believe the government is concealing vital information to prevent corruption in society. However, the government’s plans lead to dishonesty and people are unable to trust the governing body. To this day, the percentage of non-voters has increased, and people believe our next “savior” is an unworthy individual. The mistrust in our government is detrimental to

I began to mistrust government when politicians increasingly began to lie to get elected with a positive agenda that would help support the community and nation, but when in office they never fulfilled their promises in which they campaigned on such as, New York’s senator Tim Bishop using funds provided by prominent hedge fund investors to personally influence their agendas once they would provide money to his campaign. Compared to the public in 2010, I can poll my mistrust in government at roughly seventy-five percent which matches the public view of government at the time when stated they only trusted the government only some of the

Because of Watergate, contention and distrust sprung from people and still exist today. Prior to Watergate, the general public expressed content with the government and its policies, with the exception of the Vietnam War. During the Great Depression, people cherished and depended on the expansion of government because of the deplorable economic times, “the central idea was that government should protect people from the worst vagaries of a market economy” (The New American Consensus; Government of, by and For the Comfortable, 1998). Also Johnson’s “Great Society” gained a lot of political clout was well. The steady decline in support for the government can undoubtedly be traced back to Nixon. After Gerald Ford assumed office struggled to move away from the Watergate incident and he felt the best way was by pardoning Nixon for all his transgressions. This had the opposite effect. The American people felt that he cheated the system or even more inexcusable, bargained to pardon Nixon if he became president. In this dark time, sprung an era where morality and ethics were important which explains the election of Jimmy carter who claimed “that he would clean up the ‘cesspool’ Washington had become and restore a sense of morality in the white House….” (2006, p.24). Even though he spouted his famous phrase, “I will never tell a lie” his inability to restore the economy and ineffectiveness as a president furthered the dissent that the Americans had with the government (Economy Is Not Only Problem Facing Cater, 1997). In fact since Nixon’s Resignation there has been a broad downward trend from fifty-three percent in 1972 to twenty-four percent in 2013 (Public Trust in Government: 1958-2014, 2014). Some would argue that while Watergate played a huge role in American

One thing about trust is that citizens feel disconnected with government and its processes. However, in the 2013 government shutdown it was not about the lack tools to inform constituents on the budget process. Although we had plenty of updates from the media, not always positive, federal employees and taxpayers were in the know on the lack of congressional action to pass a balanced budget. The trust fell from constituents when Republicans and Democrats chose to divide party lines rather than have concern of federal employees and constituents in general. In this trust situation it is beneficial to expand upon Mark E. Warren and G. Edward DeSeve theories on the political environment along with ways that public servants can regain

Throughout history, the American people have had a hard time instilling trust in their government and political leaders. Between the numerous scandals involving United States presidents and other political leaders and the dozens of conspiracy theories encompassing the United States government, it is no wonder why the American people have lost trust in their government, and why the United States has become the laughing stock of foreign countries. The 2016 presidential election was arguably the most controversial election in American history; many voters felt that neither of the candidates could be trusted due to their questionable actions. Numerous Americans were outraged when current U.S. president, Donald J. Trump, was sworn into office; due

Distrust and dissatisfaction with the government has always been a common sentiment in modern political life. Every Congress and president throughout history has had their fair share of critics and detractors. This has held true in the past and will continue to hold true for the remainder of our democracy. An underlying distrust of government has been a constant in American politics since the country’s birth. This sentiment can be traced back to a uniquely strong emphasis on personal liberty, coupled with the revolutionary fervor with which the nation was founded. Latent anti authoritarianism is a defining characteristic of the American experience. The marked increase in cynicism over the last few decades is a separate phenomenon, however.

The public trust in government has declined over the years, and now the people think they can do little to influence the government actions. According to the book We the people by Benjamin Ginsberg, in 2013 only 19 percent of americans reported trusting the government with their decisions in Washington. On the contrary, compare to 1960s and 1970s americans had a lot of more respect and trust for the american government due to the fact that the government did what was best for the people. But now, the trust that his great nation once had has been declining in a

During the last century, American involvement toward civic are falling into a slump. This could mark a new era of history for democracy but the question is what happens when only about 5% of American will take part in civic. Since World II American civic engagement are greater and they are more likely to trust their government and community but over time the people trust is beginning fall. What could have caused this trust issue? Well, the problem here is over time the people begin to see a lot lies the government feed them, for an example, the Vietnam war was one of the reason that caused American reduce their trust the government as bomb the country with a lot of civilian casualties but the government only showed American the shooting part.

One point from Shea’s piece on the topic is that there is a lack of trust in the government. As time has passed, and more scandals an flaws in the government and government officials have been exposed, voters have lost faith in those running the country. In fact, many believe that faith in politicians is at an all

In fact, only about 13 percent of Americans trust our government according to a 2014 CNN poll (Mathews par 1). If you do not trust your government, then what reason would you have to support any of the choices they make? It would be to that if you had a lack of trust in your friends. What reason would you have to depend on them if you had no trust for them? You may even want to head for the hills in the other direction. This is how Americans feel towards many of our politicians these days which leads to their disinterest in the voting system. In consequence of this the views of the people are not as easily represented in the long

The reasons for this are because public confidence can be greatly affected by public perceptions, as influence by the media and other sources, and other factors influence public trust beyond government performance. It should be noted that government performance not only includes its services but also reconciling competing interests, perceived competence, and individual integrity of officials. Cultural factors may also influence public confidence, such as peace movements or anti-establishment movements. Sims does not say a government should refrain from improving its services, but he says that the influence it will have public confidence is negligible due to outside factors. Sims does not look at the idea that the factors may be related in a different method. He sets up public confidence as a sum of government services, cultural movements, and perceptions of the government when it could also be the case that cultural movements and government perception could be the direct result of government services. This means public goods provision not only directly contributes to the public confidence result but also contributes to the other two factors, giving it a more significant weighting in the equation than

In today’s society people often argue that there is a massive distrust in the government and the actions that occur within the political sphere. In the United States specifically, nearly two-thirds of the American population believe their government is in decline (Keane). This decline is seen through the widening gap of the rich and poor, extreme xenophobia of politicians, and young citizens left jobless due to unemployment figures on the rise (Keane). Thus, it is easy to see that people feel they no longer are being protected by the government. Furthermore, people may feel that politics is becoming more of an area for the powerful and less of what it was intended to be. Politics should be an arena for politicians to fight for and protect their jurisdictions interests, as opposed to job where leaders mindlessly show up for their 9 to 5. When individuals feel that this is the case, there is the potential less interest in politics, and political disillusionment. Distrust exists in the political sphere and is manifested in political disinterest and disillusionment.

In today’s society, people often argue that there is a massive distrust in the government and the actions that occur in relation to politics. In the United States, specifically, nearly two-thirds of the American population believe their government is in decline (Keane). This decline is seen through the widening gap of the rich and poor, extreme xenophobia of politicians, and young citizens left jobless due to unemployment figures on the rise (Keane). Thus, it is easy to see that people feel they no longer are being protected by the government. Furthermore, people may feel that politics are becoming more of an area for the powerful and less of what it was intended to be. Politics should be an arena for politicians to fight for and protect their jurisdictions interests, as opposed to a job where leaders mindlessly show up for their 9 to 5. When individuals feel that this is the case, there is the potential for less interest in politics, and political disillusionment. Thus, distrust exists in the political sphere and is manifested in political disinterest and disillusionment.