A new Gallup poll released on July 5 reveals that Americans’ confidence in the 16 institutions that Gallup surveys annually has dropped to new lows. Only 27% of those surveyed have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the country’s institutions.
According to Gallup’s editor-in-chief, Mohmed Younis, 11 of the 16 institutions experienced significant declines last year, but the drop isn’t new.
Younis told MSNBC News that since Gallup began polling in 1972, the decline has been steady over the past 15 years.
The report revealed the two most significant confidence declines were with the Supreme Court and the presidency. The SCOTUS dropped 11-points, from 36% to 25%. However, the numbers were noted before the landmark rulings on abortion and gun laws. The presidency plummeted 15-points from 38% to 23% during the past year.
However, the news media and congress hold the lowest confidence numbers. According to the poll, television news dropped 6-points from 16% to 11%. Congress has the lowest confidence level at 7%, a 5-point drop over the year.
However, there is a bright side to the poll. Small businesses and the military had the least amount of confidence decline. In 2021 small businesses held 70% confidence. It slipped to 68% in 2022.
Pundits have pointed out that small businesses cannot afford to lose customers. They depend on them to stay in business. Therefore, small companies often bend over backward to please customers and, by doing so, encourage them to return.
Mohmed noted that to Americans, small businesses and the military represent “local accountability, failure and success are clearly defined, they don’t take credit for things they didn’t do. So they feel different than other institutions on that list.”
The Gallup editor-in-chief suggested that this new “relative low” signals that Americana are looking at their leadership with more scrutiny and determining the kind of leadership they approve of and want to see.
The latest NBC poll shows that 75% of the country thinks the nation is heading in the wrong direction, while Gallup found just 13% of Americans are satisfied with the way things are going in the government.
