Confidence in the very structure of the nation has been shaken amid this private wave where all trust in the government has been lost. A new Pew Research Center poll found that 72% of Americans believe the United States – the land of the free – is no longer a good example of democracy.
Those 72% say that America was once a good example of a democracy for other nations to follow, with only 19% still trusting in its structure. Americans over 50 trust in democracy a bit more than younger generations (11% vs 4%) likely because they are less likely to face the new reality of our broken economy where the American Dream is no longer attainable.
Those most closely aligned to America in terms of economics are more likely to say the US is no longer a good example of democracy (Canada 67%, Japan 65%, UK 63%). Younger generations everywhere now believe America was never a good example of democracy as they have only seen the nation in a state of geopolitical upheaval.
A separate poll with information from Pew Research Center, National Election Studies, Gallup, ABC/Washington Post, CBS/New York Times, and CNN surveys, Americans were if they trust the government. Trust heightened, in line with the ECM, in 1964 under President Johnson with a trust rating of 77%. Trust plummeted when President Nixon became the first president to resign in 1974, with the moving average then standing at 36%. Individual polls then showed confidence moving to a new low of 25% by the end of President Carter’s administration, in line with the economy as always.
Trust in government then peaked at the beginning of George W. Bush’s term in office, with individual polls rising to 60% in 2001 and overall stats hitting 54%. Now, 2001 marked the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers that shook the nation at its core, spreading a wave of patriotism across the United States. Everyone trusted that the government would seek revenge and keep the nation safe from future attacks. We permitted countless laws to pass, like the Patriot Act, because we trusted the government to protect us.
By the end of George W. Bush’s term, no one knew what we were doing in the Middle East and were questioning the “weapons of mass destruction” premise. Individual polls plummeted from 60% to a mere 17% in 2008, with overall sentiments not faring much better at 24%. Trust in government has never surpassed 30% on either poll since.
The moving average of trust in the US government now sits at 22%. Politics have never been more divided. The majority of the country questions in the president is mentally fit to serve. Congress is blatantly corrupt. The coronavirus pandemic changed everything and shook the nation as badly as 9/11, but the people ran from government rather than towards it.
Our computer indicates the American economy subtly slipped into a recession, and things will worsen until 2028. We find this same phenomenon of trust in government declining globally and it is all in line with the Economic Confidence Model. Distrust will only grow as economic conditions worsen. By 2032, as indicated by the models, we will have a chance to rebuild and regrow at the end of the Sixth Wave, which will be the equivalent to the fall of ancient Rome.
