There once was a time when the people of the United States
looked up to and respected their government.
Nowadays, only 20% of the American people say that they
trust the government making the right decision most lf the time.
The recent government shutdown is just the tip of
the iceberg when it comes to the disappointment and frustration that has
accumulated with respect to the national government. Many lies concerning the
Vietnam war, the Watergate scandal, and a war over weapons of mass destruction
that didn’t exist are just a few of the things that haven’t sat too well with
the general public. Furthermore, people are disheartened by the corruption in
the government as officials make backdoor deals for their own benefit.
It is pretty obvious that the government has made a few mistakes
here and there, so its not a great surprise that many are dissatisfied.
One of the reasons that so many people are dissatisfied with
the government in the first place is increased polarization. When the
republicans and democrats are constantly battling it out with each other, it
creates a gridlock in congress. The government has a difficult time coming up
with decisions in these situations (as shown by the shutdown), and when they
do, one party usually remains unsatisfied.
The same is true with people. When an important policy
decision is made, democrats are happy and republicans are unhappy or vice
versa. When people are unhappy every time their parties’ policies don’t get
implemented, they lose faith in the government.
This does not excuse the corruption and poor decision making
in government, but it is worth noting that whatever the government does, some
people are always bound to complain.
The government is in charge of making so many decisions that
general public doesn’t even know about. While everyone should have a say in the
affairs of our nation, it is comforting that there are people in charge who
know the situations and come to decisions without consulting 300 million
Americans.
Do I trust the government to make the right choices most of
the time? I suppose so. Is there corruption in the government? Yes. Does it
make bad choices? Sometimes. But when it comes down to it, America is still
chugging along relatively smoothly, and as long as it does, I’ll put my faith
in the government.
References:
Kevin,
ReplyDeleteThe interactive graph was very revealing and cool! I find it most telling that the lines match up very well with consumer confidence. I like the explanation of how people will believe the government is not working when their side of the issue loses, even though their representatives fought for that very issue. I think the issue of corruption and lobbying is another problem influencing our perception of how the government functions. Great post!
Cool blog post! I definitely agree that one of the most probable issues to the people not trusting government is polarization. I was really surprised that only 20% of the people actually even trust the government to make the right decisions. But it actually does make sense when you take into account many of the government's let-downs including the government shutdown and others such as the Watergate scandal that you mentioned. Also, I really like the graph that you included since it reveals more about just how much distrust there really is. Overall, awesome post and terrific points!
ReplyDeleteKevmo! that was a pretty cool post, that had a surprising turn at the end. I expected, that you like everyone else, would still not trust the government, so I guess you're part of the 20%. The way you presented your facts and intuitive arguments make for a coherent blog post, that is only made even cooler with that interactive chart you found. Your blog post swayed me in your direction, making me believe too that the government can be trusted. Even though there is a lot of discourse and gridlock in congress, I believe that this problem will soon be ameliorated, at the next elections, when more moderate politicians will be elected. It's like a cycle.
ReplyDeleteHi Kevin!!!!!!!!!! Thanks for posting, and I really like how you highlighted that Americans have so little faith in their government. However, I think the dissatisfaction stems from our government completely shifting right over the past 30 years because in actuality, I don't think there is real polarization. The Democrats are the new republicans, and there are no longer true liberals in Congress. Even Dennis Kucinich was gerrymandered out...
ReplyDeleteBill Maher aptly describes Democrats' shift right in this funny clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPDhQAeMYmI
"So what we have is one perfectly good party for hedge fund managers, credit card companies, banks, defense contractors, big agriculture, and the pharmaceutical lobby - that's the Democrats. And they sit across the aisle from a small group of religious lunatics, flat earthers, and Civil War re-enacters who mostly communicate by AM radio and call themselves the Republicans - and who actually worry that Obama is a socialist. Socialist? He's not even a liberal! I know he's not, because he's on TV, and while I see Democrats on television, I don't see actual liberals."
If politicians actually listened to the people rather than their corporate sponsors, they would learn that a majority of americans are in favor of supposedly "socialist" and "left-wing ideas." Only when Democrats learn to grow a backbone will Americans' satisfaction with the government rise.
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ReplyDeleteTo add to the point that no matter what the government does someone will always be unhappy, the media also increases public disapproval since they tend to focus on the bad side of issues. The types of shows we watch or where we get our news could affect our level of trust in the government. There have been studies showing that media portrayal of events increases skepticism about government decisions (http://www.thenation.com/article/166968/how-press-erodes-our-belief-government#). Also, the media's focus on the government's poor decisions could lead us to overlook some of the good decisions that it has made. Like you said, even though the government is not blameless, people's negative perceptions of it could be increased by the media.
ReplyDeleteThis was such a cool blog post (the interactive graph was awesome)!!! I completely agreed when you explained how you recognized that it is impossible for the government to appeal to what everyone wants at all times but that there is also definitely corruption. I think that an inefficient government is not synonymous with a government that always makes bad choices. I ultimately agree with you in having faith in the government. On a quick side note, for the graph, I thought it was really interesting how unemployment rate inversely mirrored the level of trust in the government (i.e. when the unemployment rate was low, trust in the government was high and vice versa). I guess that is fairly intuitive but the graph illustrated the trend really clearly.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with the points you made Kevin, especially the one about increased polarization in the government. How can we expect the government to function properly if they're gridlocked and can't see past their parties? I feel like, for the most part, Congress no longer pays attention to the needs of the people and instead only focuses on their own party platform. I found the graph very interesting that people mistrust the government so much.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the main reason for the public’s dissatisfaction with the government is due to the polarization of our political parties. Currently, the majority of the Democrats argue that the crazy, religious Republicans are the cause of all the current problems. However, looking at it from the Republican viewpoint, they probably also think that the Democrats are illogical extremists, thus explaining their skepticism that Obama may be a socialist. This harsh divide between the two parties explains the public’s lack of confidence in the government. Before the government can regain the people's trust, the two parties must learn to respectfully and open-mindedly hear each others opinions.
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