The Declining Trust In The Branches Of U.S. Government

This chart is from the Gallup Poll, and it shows the percentage of the American public that has a "great deal" or a "fair amount" of trust in each of the three branches of government (in September of each year since 2001). The latest survey was done between September 4th and 7th of this year of a random national sample of 1,017 adults, with a margin of error of 4 points.

The trust in the judicial branch has fallen by about 13 points since 2001, but still has the trust of a significant majority of 61% of the public. But the dramatic changes in the legislative and executive branches make the judicial line look almost flat. Trust in the executive branch was as high as 72% back in 2002, but dropped 30 points to 42% by 2008. The election of President Obama raised it to 61%, but it has now dropped to 43%.

But even the executive branch numbers look good when compared to those of the legislative branch. That branch started with 67% trust in 2002 and has been on a steady decline since then. It now rests at a pitiful 28% -- a drop of 39 points. This is just one more indication of the public's anger with Congress -- an anger they could well take out on incumbents in November (and most of those incumbents are Republicans).