GALLUP NEWS SERVICE
PRINCETON, NJ -- The Gallup Poll's annual rating of Americans' confidence in the country's major institutions shows that the public has more confidence in the military than in any other institution tested, followed by organized religion, and then the police and the Supreme Court. At the other end of the spectrum, HMOs suffer from the lowest level of public confidence of any of the 15 institutions included in the June 22-25 survey.
The levels of public confidence for all 15 of the institutions included in the study have varied only slightly since Gallup last asked these questions in June 1999. The military retains its leading position -- as it has since 1986 -- with 64% of Americans giving it high confidence marks. While remaining comfortably ahead of "the church or organized religion," in second place at 56%, the level of confidence in the military has declined four percentage points since last year.
Confidence in the police maintains its ranking as the third highest in the list of major institutions (54%). Racial identity appears to be a pivotal component in the level of public confidence in the police, with a majority of white Americans (57%) expressing confidence, compared to only 38% of nonwhite Americans. This gap in confidence levels may reflect perceived racial profiling by police and recent high-visibility police brutality and racism charges in the U.S. Age also seems to impact confidence in the police, with 43% of those aged 18-29 expressing confidence, compared to 51% of 30- to 49-year-olds and 61% of those 50-64 years old.
Other highly rated institutions include the Supreme Court (47%) and banks (46%).
Of the three branches of government, Americans have most confidence in the Supreme Court (47%), followed by the presidency (42%) and then, in last place, Congress (24%). However, confidence in the presidency is lower than average this year, despite the fact that last year's score of 49%, which is also the average of the past nine years, was obtained just a few months after the historic Senate vote on whether to convict President Bill Clinton of the impeachment charges.
American confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court is significantly higher (47%) than it is in the criminal justice system in general (24%). Further, while HMOs receive only 16% confidence, four in ten Americans are confident in the medical system overall (40%). Television news and newspapers receive comparable scores (36% and 37% respectively). Big business receives a slightly higher score than does organized labor (29% versus 25%). And nearly four in ten Americans are confident in the nation's public schools (37%).
Survey Methods
The results below are based on
telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of
1,021 adults, 18 years and older, conducted June 22-25, 2000. For
results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent
confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and
other random effects is plus or minus 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.
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, ...
|
|
A great |
Quite |
|
Very |
NONE |
Don't |
|
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
% |
|
|
a. The church or organized religion |
28 |
28 |
26 |
14 |
2 |
2 |
|
b. The military |
25 |
39 |
26 |
7 |
1 |
2 |
|
c. The U.S. Supreme Court |
18 |
29 |
35 |
14 |
1 |
3 |
|
d. Banks |
14 |
32 |
41 |
11 |
1 |
1 |
|
e. Public schools |
13 |
24 |
41 |
19 |
2 |
1 |
|
f. Newspapers |
12 |
25 |
38 |
22 |
2 |
1 |
|
g. Congress |
7 |
17 |
47 |
24 |
3 |
2 |
|
h. Television news |
11 |
25 |
40 |
21 |
2 |
1 |
|
i. Organized labor |
9 |
16 |
44 |
23 |
2 |
6 |
|
j. The presidency |
15 |
27 |
37 |
18 |
2 |
1 |
|
k. The police |
18 |
36 |
33 |
10 |
2 |
1 |
|
l. The medical system |
14 |
26 |
37 |
21 |
2 |
* |
|
m. The criminal justice system |
8 |
16 |
42 |
30 |
3 |
1 |
|
n. Big business |
9 |
20 |
45 |
22 |
2 |
2 |
|
o. Health maintenance organizations, also known as HMOs |
6 |
10 |
35 |
38 |
7 |
4 |
* less than 0.5%
(vol.) Volunteered response
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?
CONFIDENCE IN INSTITUTIONS -- FULL TREND
(COMBINES "A GREAT DEAL" AND "QUITE A LOT")
|
|
|
|
Chrch/ |
|
|
Med |
|
Pub |
TV |
|
|
00 Jun |
64% |
54% |
56% |
47% |
46% |
40% |
42% |
37% |
36% |
37% |
|
99 Jun |
68 |
57 |
58 |
49 |
43 |
40 |
49 |
36 |
34 |
33 |
|
98 Jun |
64 |
58 |
59 |
50 |
40 |
40 |
53 |
37 |
34 |
33 |
|
97 Jul |
60 |
59 |
56 |
50 |
41 |
38 |
49 |
40 |
34 |
35 |
|
96 May |
66 |
60 |
57 |
45 |
44 |
42 |
39 |
38 |
36 |
32 |
|
95 Apr |
64 |
58 |
57 |
44 |
43 |
41 |
45 |
40 |
33 |
30 |
|
94 Mar |
64 |
54 |
54 |
42 |
35 |
36 |
38 |
34 |
35 |
29 |
|
93 Mar |
68 |
52 |
53 |
44 |
37 |
34 |
43 |
39 |
46 |
31 |
|
91 Oct |
69 |
-- |
56 |
39 |
30 |
-- |
50 |
35 |
-- |
32 |
|
91 Mar |
85 |
-- |
59 |
48 |
32 |
-- |
72 |
44 |
-- |
32 |
|
1990 |
68 |
-- |
56 |
47 |
36 |
-- |
-- |
45 |
-- |
39 |
|
1989 |
63 |
-- |
52 |
46 |
42 |
-- |
-- |
43 |
-- |
-- |
|
1988 |
68 |
-- |
59 |
56 |
49 |
-- |
-- |
49 |
-- |
36 |
|
1987 |
61 |
-- |
61 |
52 |
51 |
-- |
-- |
50 |
-- |
31 |
|
1986 |
63 |
-- |
57 |
54 |
49 |
-- |
-- |
49 |
-- |
37 |
|
1985 |
61 |
-- |
66 |
56 |
51 |
-- |
-- |
48 |
-- |
35 |
|
1984 |
58 |
-- |
64 |
51 |
51 |
-- |
-- |
47 |
-- |
34 |
|
1983 |
53 |
-- |
62 |
42 |
51 |
-- |
-- |
39 |
-- |
38 |
|
1981 |
50 |
-- |
64 |
46 |
46 |
-- |
-- |
42 |
-- |
35 |
|
1979 |
54 |
-- |
65 |
45 |
60 |
-- |
-- |
53 |
-- |
51 |
|
1977 |
57 |
-- |
64 |
46 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
54 |
-- |
-- |
|
1975 |
58 |
-- |
68 |
49 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
1973 |
-- |
-- |
66 |
44 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
58 |
-- |
39 |
CONFIDENCE IN INSTITUTIONS -- FULL TREND
(COMBINES "A GREAT DEAL" AND "QUITE A LOT")(Continued)
|
|
Org |
Big |
|
Crim |
|
|
00 Jun |
25% |
29% |
24% |
24% |
16% |
|
99 Jun |
28 |
30 |
26 |
23 |
17 |
|
98 Jun |
26 |
30 |
28 |
24 |
-- |
|
97 Jul |
23 |
28 |
22 |
19 |
- |
|
96 May |
25 |
24 |
20 |
19 |
-- |
|
95 Apr |
26 |
21 |
21 |
20 |
-- |
|
94 Mar |
26 |
26 |
18 |
15 |
-- |
|
93 Mar |
26 |
22 |
18 |
17 |
-- |
|
91 Oct |
22 |
22 |
18 |
-- |
-- |
|
91 Mar |
25 |
26 |
30 |
-- |
-- |
|
1990 |
27 |
25 |
24 |
-- |
-- |
|
1989 |
-- |
-- |
32 |
-- |
-- |
|
1988 |
26 |
25 |
35 |
-- |
-- |
|
1987 |
26 |
-- |
-- |
-- |
-- |
|
1986 |
29 |
28 |
41 |
-- |
-- |
|
1985 |
28 |
31 |
39 |
-- |
-- |
|
1984 |
30 |
29 |
29 |
-- |
-- |
|
1983 |
26 |
28 |
28 |
-- |
-- |
|
1981 |
28 |
20 |
29 |
-- |
-- |
|
1979 |
36 |
32 |
34 |
-- |
-- |
|
1977 |
39 |
33 |
40 |
-- |
-- |
|
1975 |
38 |
34 |
40 |
-- |
-- |
|
1973 |
30 |
26 |
42 |
-- |
-- |
