Partnership for Public Service and Freedman Consulting took a deep dive into public trust of federal government and its employees in their most recent study. The findings showed that only four in 10 Americans say they trust the federal government to do what is right at least some of the time, but majorities of the public have a much more favorable view of civil servants, specific government missions and services, and particular federal agencies. That’s good news that the public has more faith in federal employees.
Tensions are High; Trust is Needed
This lack of trust has serious implications for how the public interacts with our government and how well federal agencies can respond to the major challenges facing the country. In recent weeks, global events have driven our government to embark on consequential foreign policy actions in service to our safety and security as well the health of democracies abroad. The highly polarized reaction to these efforts has brought trust to the forefront of the political debate. Geopolitical tensions highlight the need for faith in government to be more than 40%.
The new report, “Trust in Government: A Close Look at Public Perceptions of the Federal Government and Its Employees,” debuts the Partnership’s effort to not only measure trust in government, but also understand what factors inform public trust and what can motivate changes in perceptions.
“Restoring trust in the federal government, the one institution with the ability to deal with our nation’s most critical social, economic and foreign policy challenges, is essential to the health of our democracy,” said Partnership for Public Service President and CEO Max Stier. “The mission of the Partnership for Public Service is to help improve the effectiveness of our government and strengthen our democracy, and a breakdown in trust between the American public and their government presents a huge obstacle.”
Survey Findings
The survey had some major findings, but one Stier points out that it’s not enough to just conduct a survey, it matters what we do with that information. He said, “Our aim is to understand why people distrust the federal government, what can be done to improve trust and how to better communicate our government’s successes.”
Among the major findings of the first survey:
- Only 40% of respondents said they trust the federal government a lot or somewhat, and 56% did not trust the government much or at all.
- A third of respondents (33%) said the federal government treats people fairly regardless of race, class, gender, level of ability or any other demographic characteristic.
- Black Americans (51%) and Asian Americans or Pacific Islanders (50%) are more likely to trust the government than Hispanic Americans (39%) and white Americans (38%).
- More people said their personal experiences with the federal government had been positive (48%) than negative (38%).
- Views of federal employees are complex, but mostly positive. A majority of respondents (57%) said federal employees are doing public service and 55% said they are hard workers. Half thought that federal workers are committed to helping “people like me” compared with 33% who said they are not.
Why Trust is a Key Component in National Security
When people don’t trust their government, they are more likely to opt out of voting and other types of civic participation. People who distrust the government also are less likely to follow public health guidelines. For example, almost half (46%) of the people who said they were vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus trusted the government compared with 29% of those who had not been vaccinated.
Distrust also can dissuade young talent from entering the federal service, an urgent problem given that only about 7% of the federal workforce is under the age of 30 and about one in three federal workers will be eligible to retire during the next five years. Distrust may likewise impact the willingness of potential political appointees to serve, compounded by the problems of the broken Senate confirmation process.
“Our research shows that when people learn about the work of outstanding public servants who make up our federal government, their perceptions often shift in a positive direction,” Stier said. “We believe we can make a real difference here and help restore faith in our democracy.”
