Americans Have Little Confidence In Political Institutions

Trust in the institutions that have been the pillars of U.S. politics and capitalism is crumbling.

That is one finding from the latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, which shows that Americans have limited confidence in its public schools, courts, organized labor and banks — and even less confidence in big business, the presidency, the political parties and the media.

The only institution that Americans have overwhelming faith in is the military — 87 percent say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the military. That is a striking change from the 1970s during and after the Vietnam War.

In 1977, according to Gallup, 57 percent had that level of confidence in the military, 30 points lower. There have been some big changes in the last 40 years, including the draft being abolished and fewer and fewer Americans knowing someone serving in the military.

Particularly worrisome for the media is that a majority of Republicans, a 53 percent, have no confidence in them at all. Combined with those who said not very much confidence, 90 percent of Republicans expressed a lack of confidence in the media.

Forty-two percent of Democrats felt the same, as did three-quarters of independents. Fairness and objectivity are tenets and pillars of a free press, but those have been eroded in the eyes of many Americans.

At the same time, however, a solid majority said they trust their favorite news source more than President Trump by a 29-point margin, 58 percent to 29 percent. That included 85 percent of Democrats and 53 percent of independents. However, 63 percent of Republicans still trust the president more.

Trump has taken on the media, calling it "fake news" and even attacked the conservative media juggernaut Fox News Channel.