The GRBN global survey on trust in institutions is primarily focused on the public’s trust (or otherwise) in market research, data analytics and polling – both overall and in terms of appropriate data protection. But a bonus of a study such as this is that it can also reveal insights of considerable importance to society and the world. One of these in this case is the collapse of trust in the American government, most especially among African Americans and the young.
Americans no longer trust their government
While governments around the world are certainly not the most trusted institutions, ranking 9th out of 15 types of organizations measured globally, they nonetheless manage to eek out a net trust index (trust minus do not trust) of +13. Not in the United States. There, only 27% have trust in their government, while 39% actively distrust it. A net index of -12. That measure widens even further when respondents were asked if, as a result of Covid-19, they trusted their government more or less. While only 14% said that their trust in government had increased, a staggering 41% said that it had declined.
Trust is rock-bottom among African Americans and students
While low and declining trust in the American government is reflected across all demographic groups, it is at unimaginably low levels among African Americans and the student population – and getting seriously worse.
Given that the effects of the Covid-19 crisis have been more acutely felt among minority groups in the U.S. (as measured by infection rates, deaths and economic damage), it is perhaps not surprising that the government’s response has resulted in a decrease in trust among African Americans. The same erosion among students, however, suggests a massive crisis of confidence among the country’s generations of the future.
Americans (used to) trust their police – but African Americans do not
Generally speaking, Americans are slightly more likely to trust their police than is the case globally. While 53% of people across the countries surveyed show trust in law enforcement, that figure rises to 60% in the United States. The same phenomenon is seen in net trust scores – +37 worldwide and +44 in the U.S.
But that is definitively not the case for African Americans. Only 36% of this group actively trust the police and, even though their net trust score is still positive (+7), it still lags significantly behind their non-Black fellow citizens.
More poignantly, this survey was carried out before the eruption of protests and disturbances that followed the death of George Floyd. One can only imagine what the numbers would look like now.
Health authorities – a lone trusted voice
Among all the governmental authorities measured (government, police, secret service, health authorities), in only one is there agreement between the USA and the rest of the world: trust in health authorities. Worldwide, this segment of public authority is trusted by a plurality, with a net trust score of +45 globally and +43 in the United States. What’s more, such trust has only increased since the onset of the coronavirus crisis (+15 worldwide and +14 in the U.S.).
So, what are we to make of this?
What this study suggests, perhaps to the surprise of only a few, is that America is in the midst of a profound crisis of trust. The United States government has lost the trust of its citizens, and law enforcement – at the time of the survey – was on the way to doing the same. Events since then would suggest that this crisis has only deepened. Most importantly, it is clear that this trust deficit is at its most acute in the African American community, which feels marginalized and cannot trust those who have sworn to “serve and protect”.
What is also striking is the loss of trust among students. Establishment politicians should be extremely worried by this, especially since this cohort has strongly endorsed ideas put forward by Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren that, until now, have been scorned as ‘socialism’. But perhaps this portends a radical shift in American politics and society over the next decade that will surprise us all.
Simon Chadwick
Cambiar Consulting
