What Is It About Government That Americans Dislike?

by Edited by John R. Hibbing , Elizabeth Theiss-Morse

• ISBN13: 9780521791816
• ISBN10: 0521791812
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-09-10
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The American public’s level of hostility toward government became a major issue in the 1990s. In this edited volume, 24 of the country’s leading students of public attitudes toward government in the United States address the reasons for this hostility. In 14 original articles, the authors explain why people’s approval of government dropped so precipitously in the late 1960s, why some parts of the government (such as the Supreme Court) are better liked than others (such as the Congress), and why certain actions by political elites are particularly upsetting to much of the American public. Uniting several of the contributions is the theme that dissatisfaction with government occurs not just when people dislike governmental policies but also when they dislike the manner in which those policies are made. Another unifying theme is the potential danger of a public with nothing but its own disdain for its own political system.

Table of Contents

Figures	x
Tables	xii
Contributors	xv
Introduction: Studying the American People's Attitudes Toward Government	1	(8)
John R. Hibbing
Elizabeth Theiss-Morse
Part I: When Do Americans Tend to Be Dissatisfied with Government?
Political Trust Revisited: Deja Vu All Over Again?	9	(19)
Jack Citrin
Samantha Luks
We're All in This Together: The Decline of Trust in Government, 1958--1996	28	(19)
John R. Alford
Were the Halcyon Days Really Golden? An Analysis of Americans' Attitudes about the Political System, 1945--1965	47	(12)
Stephen Earl Bennett
Public Trust in Government in the Reagan Years and Beyond	59	(24)
Virginia A. Chanley
Thomas J. Rudolph
Wendy M. Rahn
Part II: With Which Governmental Institutions Do Americans Tend to Be Dissatisfied?
Public Confidence in the Leaders of American Governmental Institutions	83	(15)
Lilliard E. Richardson
David J. Houston
Chris Sissie Hadjiharalambous
Linking Presidential and Congressional Approval During Unified and Divided Governments	98	(20)
Jeffrey L. Bernstein
Is Washington Really the Problem?	118	(16)
Eric M. Uslaner
Explaining Public Support for Devolution: The Role of Political Trust	134	(23)
Marc J. Hetherington
John D. Nugent
Part III: Do Actions on the Part of Politicians Cause Americans to Be Dissatisfied with Government?
On Red Capes and Charging Bulls: How and Why Conservative Politicians and Interest Groups Promoted Public Anger	157	(18)
Amy Fried
Douglas B. Harris
A Reassessment of Who's to Blame: A Positive Case for the Public Evaluation of Congress	175	(18)
David W. Brady
Sean M. Theriault
Process Performance: Public Reaction to Legislative Policy Debate	193	(16)
Carolyn L. Funk
Part IV: How Is Dissatisfaction with Government Measured and Incorporated into Political Theory?
Trust in Federal Government: The Phenomenon and Its Antecedents	209	(18)
Diana Owen
Jack Dennis
The Psychology of Public Dissatisfaction with Government	227	(16)
Tom R. Tyler
The Means Is the End	243	(8)
John R. Hibbing
Elizabeth Theiss-Morse
References	251	(20)
Index	271