The survey found that trust in career employees has fallen from 61 to 52 percent positive since 2018. Image: Wangkun Jia/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe public still has greater trust in career federal employees than in political appointees to act in the best interests of the public but that gap has narrowed significantly in recent years, according to a new survey from Pew Research.
The survey conducted last month of more than 5,000 people found that trust in career employees has fallen from 61 to 52 percent positive since 2018, while the view of political appointees fell from 42 to 39 percent.
The survey also found negative views regarding many other questions, for example with just 20 percent overall saying they trust the government to do the right thing always or most of the time. That reflected 29 percent of people who identified as Democrats or leaning Democrat and just 9 of those who identified as Republicans or leaning Republican. “The share of Republicans expressing trust in the federal government is currently as low as it has been at any point in the last 60 years,” a summary said.
“Evaluations are highly positive in some respects, including for responding to natural disasters (70% say the government does a good job of this) and keeping the country safe from terrorism (68%). However, only about a quarter of Americans say the government has done a good job managing the immigration system and helping people get out of poverty (24% each),” it said.
However, when asked whether the government does too little, too much, or just about right for certain groups, the only group viewed by a majority as being over-served was “higher-income people.” More than 60 percent said the government does too little for middle-income people, lower-income people and retirees.
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