by Frank James
Gallup has a new survey out in which it reports that public trust in the federal government has fallen to lows reminiscent of the Watergate era. It’s a state of affairs a Gallup analyst bemoans.
PRINCETON, NJ -- A high degree of public trust in elected leaders is one of the basic underpinnings of representative government. Gallup's annual Governance survey shows that trust in the federal government has continued to decrease this year after showing noticeable signs of decline the past two years.
But maybe public distrust in elected leaders is actually not a bad thing.
Indeed, the very system the Founding Fathers created was premised on a mistrust of public officials. If that weren't so, why would we need three branches of government that, on a good day, check and balance each other?
Don't take my word for it. Here’s a famous passage from the Federalist, number 51, by James Madison where he writes, in ornate, 18th century prose, on this very topic. It's the passage from which come the famous lines " If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary."
"But the great security against a gradual concentration of the several powers in the same department, consists in giving to those who administer each department the necessary constitutional means and personal motives to resist encroachments of the others. The provision for defense must in this, as in all other cases, be made commensurate to the danger of attack. Ambition must be made to counteract ambition.The interest of the man must be connected with the constitutional rights of the place. It may be a reflection on human nature, that such devices should be necessary to control the abuses of government. But what is government itself, but the greatest of all reflections on human nature? If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.
In framing a government which is to be administered by men over men, the great difficulty lies in this: you must first enable the government to control the governed; and in the next place oblige it to control itself. A dependence on the people is, no doubt, the primary control on the government; but experience has taught mankind the necessity of auxiliary precautions.
Thus, it should be obvious that from the start, the American Republic was based on a healthy lack of trust in government and its officials. People credit Ronald Reagan with the saying "trust but verify," but that notion far predates him.
So the roughly 50 percent of Americans Gallup found who don't trust the government to properly handle foreign and domestic affairs are in the very best tradition of the Founding Fathers. The better question might be, why do all those other folks trust the government so much?
At the end of his report, the Gallup analysts writes this:
Of course, one of the lessons of the Watergate era is that the American system of government is resilient enough that it can withstand low levels of trust in government. But trust in government is not necessarily easy to restore, and the conditions likely behind the decline in trust seem unlikely to improve substantially in the near term. To some extent, the 2008 election campaign may be the kind of fresh start the public requires to regain its trust in the federal government.
It's that last line that really leaps off the computer screen: "… the 2008 election campaign may be the kind of fresh start the public requires to regain its trust in the federal government."
Uhh, I don't think so. It is more likely to be one of the nastiest races we've witnessed yet, especially if Sen. Hillary Clinton wins the Democratic nomination, since she is one of the most polarizing candidates in modern American political history.
It will not be the kind of race that boosts the public's faith in its officials. Trust me on that.
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Comments
Good news to those Republicans. Way to get that small federal government; just turn the public off on the whole idea by electing a baffoon to the White House and pickle Congress to senseless politics. Karl rove was a ingenious, Bush is an asset to the Republican party in the long run, and the American people want to move to Canada.
Posted by: Well she certaintly seems to uniting those who are polled isn't she; that's more than Bush can say o | September 26, 2007 11:39 AM
Healthy scepticism & questioning of government is a good thing, but an automatic distrust/hate isn't good.
For the most part, aren't we all entitled to the benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise?
For example: The new A.G. nominee Mr. Mukasey. Dubya says he's okay by him. Schumer says Mukasey is okay by him. I'm willing to give the guy a fair hearing.
That's neither naive or wrong. It's only fair.
Posted by: Doug Zook | September 26, 2007 11:47 AM
It's not so much a lack of trust in government as a lack of trust in those who govern...our democratic system is, in it's essence, the finest form of government ever devised -- three co-equal branches, check and balances, etc......the problem of trust arises when the elected officials pervert the system, i.e. the "unitary executives"... read the Preamble to the Constitution --- and then read it again --- how can you NOT trust a government with those stated goals ?? It's only the abuse of power -- as we're seeing in the present administration -- that dampens the people's view of " a government of the people, by the people and for the people"....January 2009 can't come quick enough...God Bless America
Posted by: pitsniff | September 26, 2007 12:02 PM
Why don't more people distrust the Federal government? I don't know, but personally I distrust PEOPLE not entities. For instance I don't trust President Bush, but I trust in the Presidency. In my view you have to. We can always vote office holders out and replace them with others, but if we start to distrust an office, than we as Americans are lost. Representitive democracy requires that we believe in our systems and work to fix them when they aren't working. Too many people today have lost faith in teh very existance of govenrment and that's truly scary. Quite simply it's the only way a diverse population can survive.
Posted by: Dean G. | September 26, 2007 12:03 PM
Thank you for putting into print something that in word does not address the lowest common folk. Each generation has to find it's own political corruption. After all you are dealing with people not something written 200+ years ago. Times change, people change, but one thing remains constant people like to have things their own way, and when they can't they get upset. What people do in political office is a reflection of what is going on in society at large. I do not trust politicians or the people that put them in office. I do know that their is corruption everywhere, but that there is enough of the good people fighting to keep all the politicians honest.
Posted by: Clarence | September 26, 2007 12:49 PM
Frank, another poll (the American Pulse Survey) showed that only 4.4% of the public think the media is trustworthy. MUCH more people trust the government than trust the media.
Why is that so? Could have something to do with the inane, left-biased slop the Swamp serves its readers every day.
Healthy distrust of the media is definitely a good thing.
Posted by: Bruce | September 26, 2007 1:03 PM
Healthy distrust of the media is definitely a good thing.
Posted by: Bruce | September 26, 2007 1:03 PM
Allardice,
Quit complaining about Fox "News".
Posted by: John E | September 26, 2007 1:58 PM
Clearly Bruce exhibits a HEATHY distrust of left leaning media, day in day out. By the way cleaver Bruce how many times did you slip in to cast a vote on that poll. Seems like an obsessive compulsive disorder to me. Ask John D for the location of the nearest facility. He knows the location of each one on every corner within a one hundred block radius of himself.
Posted by: Take your meds. | September 26, 2007 2:20 PM
Gallup didn't even bother asking during the Carter years. I noticed no mention by Frank of the Legislatures' record low numbers.
Posted by: whatnow | September 26, 2007 3:18 PM
As some have mentioned (above), it isn't the government that people mistrust, its the people in government they mistrust. And that is exactly what Madison had in mind: mistrust of men. And that is healthy.
So, who so much mistrust of politicians? That's easy. They are corrupt, wasteful, unaccountable, and they refuse to follow the Constitution in the operation of the federal government. Worse yet, they mistakenly believe that no one knows about their wrongdoings.
Those who do trust the government are either ignorant of this, or don't care. This is something to fear. When people either get too ignorant of what is wrong or stop caring, then we no longer have any check against bad government.
BTW, I'll go one better than Frank James here. I believe the country is already polarized, and that the upcoming election is going to reflect this regardless of whether Hillary wins the election or not. There really aren't too many good candidates out there, and the few who are don’t have a realistic chance of nomination. That's true of both Democrats and Republicans. It will be another case of having to choose between the lesser of two evils – again.
Posted by: John W. | September 26, 2007 3:48 PM
Maybe becuase the federal gov't confiscates our money and we don't get a good return on it - except for our military and infrastructure
Posted by: Terry | September 26, 2007 7:14 PM