Military Again Tops "Confidence in Institutions" List

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Gallup's 2005 reading of public confidence in major institutions operating in U.S. society finds little change, compared with a year ago, in Americans' ratings at the top of the list. These include the military, ranked No. 1, as well as the police, organized religion, and banks.

However, several institutions that typically appear toward the bottom of this list -- organized labor, the criminal justice system, and Congress -- have experienced declines in public confidence since last year. Confidence in the presidency, which ranks No. 5 on this year's list, and confidence in the Supreme Court, ranked No. 7, also declined.

Gallup's annual measure of public confidence in institutions is based on the question, "Now I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one -- a great deal, quite a lot, some, or very little?" ("None" is allowed as a volunteered response.) The rank order of institutions is based on the combined "a great deal" plus "quite a lot" figures.

The Basic Ranking

Only 3 U.S. institutions out of the 15 included in the May 23-26 poll command a high degree of confidence from at least half of Americans: the military, the police, and the church or organized religion. (In previous years, banks, the presidency, the Supreme Court, newspapers, and public schools have each crossed the 50% threshold.) The 74% rating given to the military continues to make it the institution engendering the most confidence of any of those tested -- and by a healthy margin.

Several organizations are rated highly by between 40% and 50% of Americans. These are banks, the presidency, the medical system, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Close to 4 in 10 Americans (37%) say they have a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in the public schools.

Roughly one in four have high confidence in television news, newspapers, the criminal justice system, organized labor, Congress, and big business.

Health maintenance organizations (HMOs) are rated highly by only 17% of Americans.

Trends Are Down

There are no major shifts in public confidence this year -- at least none on par with the 15-point decline in confidence in organized religion that occurred between 2001 and 2002 over the Catholic church's sexual abuse scandal, or the 13-point increase in confidence in the military that occurred in the same period (following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks).

The only significant changes recorded this year are all declines in confidence. These occur in relation to five institutions, and range from five to eight percentage points.

Confidence in the presidency ratings are generally linked with job approval ratings of the sitting president. However, the eight-point decline in confidence in the presidency this year is not reflected in President Bush's approval rating spanning the same period. Bush's approval rating today is 48%, versus 47% in May 2004. Whatever the reason, the decline in confidence in the presidency is most pronounced among Democrats nationally, although Republicans are also slightly less positive on this measure than they were a year ago.

The eight-point overall decline in confidence in Congress is seen to a similar degree among Republicans (-7 points) and Democrats (-12 points). The exact cause for this bipartisan decline is unclear, although Congress has been the source of much controversy this year, including its involvement in the Terri Schiavo feeding tube case, partisan battles over federal court nominees, and ethical clouds over House Majority Leader Tom DeLay.

Whatever the cause, the 22% confidence rating for Congress today is the lowest it has been in eight years.

Similarly, the five-point decline seen in confidence in the Supreme Court occurred about equally among Republicans and Democrats.

Gallup also recorded an eight-point decline in confidence in the criminal justice system (now 26%, down from 34%), and a seven-point decline in confidence in organized labor (now 24%, down from 31%). The drop in confidence in the criminal justice system is about even by party.

The drop in confidence in organized labor is more pronounced among Democrats than among Republicans.

Other Notables

• The last five years have been bad for journalism. Since 2000, trust in television news has declined from 36% to 28%, and trust in newspapers has declined from 37% to 28%. The current ratings represent the lowest trust levels for both of these institutions, although trust in newspapers has been as low as 29% (in 1994).
  
  
  
• Trust in organized religion remains where it was last year, at 53%. This represents a partial recovery from 2002, when the Catholic church's sexual abuse scandal drove this confidence level down to 45%, but it is still below the 56% to 60% level maintained before the scandal.

Survey Methods

These results are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,004 adults, aged 18 and older, conducted May 23-26, 2005. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is ±3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

2-1. Now I am going to read you a list of institutions in American society. Please tell me how much confidence you, yourself, have in each one -- a great deal, quite a lot, some, or very little? First, … Next, [RANDOM ORDER]

TRENDS (% "a great deal" + % "quite a lot")