Why People Don't Trust Government

by Nye, Joseph S.; Zelikow, Philip D.; King, David C.

• ISBN13: 9780674940574
• ISBN10: 0674940571
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-10-05
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

Confidence in American government has been declining for three decades. Three-quarters of Americans said they trusted the Federal government to do the right thing in 1964. Today, only a quarter do. Why the decline? Is this mistrust a healthy reflection of America's long-lasting skepticism of a strong state? Is mistrust a problem for the future of governance? Bringing together essays by leading Harvard scholars, this book explores the roots of mistrust. It first examines government's current scope, its actual performance, and citizens' perceptions of its performance. It then assesses many possible explanations that have been offered for the decline of trust, including the end of the Cold War, elevated expectations following World War II, a weakened economy, the effects of globalization, resentment over political scandals, and incompetence of bureaucrats. The book clarifies thinking about the sources of public disaffection. Mistrust, the contributors find, is largely unrelated to national economic conditions, to challenges of a global economy, to the Cold War, or to bumbling bureaucrats and venal politicians. Rather, they show that the most likely culprits are all around us--an interacting blend of cultural and political conflicts stirred by an increasingly corrosive news media.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction: The Decline of Confidence in Government

The Scope and Performance of Government

The Evolving Scope of Government

Measuring the Performance of Government

Fall from Grace: The Public's Loss of Faith in Government Gary Orren

The Menu of Explanations

Is It Really the Economy Stupid?

Social and Cultural Causes of Dissatisfaction with U.S. Government

The Polarization of American Parties and Mistrust of Government

The Politics of Mistrust

Data on Public Attitudes toward Governance

Changing Attitudes in America

Postmaterialist Values and the Erosion of Institutional Authority

Public Trust and Democracy in Japan

Conclusion

Reflections, Conjectures, and Puzzles

Notes

Contributors

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.