*Breaking* New Nationwide Survey Shows Why So Many Americans Do Not Trust Government, And A Cautionary Note For The Right

Public Trust In Government Is Nearing It’s Historic Low Point

In 1964, nearly 77 percent of Americans said they trusted the federal government to do what is right most of the time; today, that figure stands at just about 22 percent.

Americans once trusted their government — deeply. In the early 1960s, nearly eight in ten said they believed Washington would usually do the right thing. That level of confidence now feels almost unimaginable.

Pew Research’s newly released long-range dataset delivers a blunt verdict: public trust in the federal government sits today near the bottom of a seventy-year chart. And while distrust has risen gradually over decades, it has also fallen in sudden, sharp drops at key political moments. Confidence doesn’t fade quietly. It collapses when power accelerates and large parts of the country feel left behind.

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The Pew data reveals a recurring governing pattern — from Obama to Trump — and raises a hard question for the right about how power is used, not just won. Upgrading to a paid subscription unlocks about 40 percent of all content here at So, Does It Matter?, and directly supports my independent work calling balls and strikes on California politics.

Inside the paid section:

• How unified political control consistently triggers the sharpest drops in trust

• Why Obama-era distrust and today’s distrust mirror each other structurally

• The political cost of governing faster than public consent

• Why distrust is not automatically a victory for limited-government advocates

• The data-driven warning conservatives can’t afford to ignore

• And charts — more charts (have I told you how much I love charts?)...