Confidence In Congress At Historic Low

June 20, 2008 8:06 AM | | Comments (0)

For the last 35 years, Gallup has asked Americans how much "confidence" they have in institutions of all sorts (military, schools, media, banks, even Health Maintenance Organizations - HMOs).

This year, Congress hit a new milestone: not only is it the lowest of the 16 institutions tested this year, but at 12 percent, its confidence rating is the worst Gallup has ever measured.

The poll, taken June 9-12, asks people how much confidence they have (without defining what that means) in the institutions: " a great deal, quite a lot, some or very little." The rating results from adding together "a great deal" and "quite a lot." Congress scored 6 points in each of those.

The military led the list, with 45 percent expressing a "great deal" and 26 choosing "quite a lot," for a total of 71 percent. The military has topped the list every year since 1988 (except of 1997, when small business went to the top). From 1973-1985, organized religion topped the list. It is fourth on this year's list.

Looking back, Gallup notes: "Government institutions are not alone in experiencing a decline in public confidence. While only one institution (banks) has seen a significant decline in confidence over the past year, all have dropped compared with 2004, the last presidential election year. The three government institutions and banks have had the greatest drops in confidence over that time, while the military and big business have seen the least change."

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