Why Do Americans Increasingly Distrust Their Government?

Published in Guangming Daily
(China) on 20 January 2022
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Jo Sharp. Edited by Gillian Palmer.
Edelman, the world’s largest public relations consultancy, released its 2022 “Edelman Trust Barometer” on Jan. 18, which showed that public trust in the U.S. government has fallen to a new low. On the current U.S. administration’s first anniversary, Agence France-Presse summed up the situation as “internal and external difficulties and public dissatisfaction.” That confirmed what Edelman concluded: the U.S. government is facing a serious crisis of confidence.

Edelman has been publishing an annual report on global trust in government since 2000. According to the organization’s survey of more than 36,000 people in 28 countries conducted between Nov. 1 and Nov. 24 last year, the Chinese people’s trust in the government was at 91%, the highest in a decade, while the American public’s trust in its government fell to 39%.

Public trust is a measure of how well a nation’s government is performing. Trust in the U.S. government has fallen to a new low, against a backdrop of the outbreak and spread of chaos in the country, clearly led by the failure to fight the pandemic.

According to statistics released by Johns Hopkins University on Jan. 17, the U.S. has had more than 65 million cumulative confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 850,000 COVID-19 deaths, ranking first in the world for both. From the very beginning, the politicization of the pandemic has threatened America’s progress in its fight against the disease, resulting in the loss of one life after another. How can the American people trust the government when their right to life and health are being seriously compromised?

During the pandemic, political division and power struggles in the U.S. have intensified, social division has worsened and the gap between rich and poor has become even more shocking. According to data released by the Federal Reserve last October, the richest 10% in the United States owns 89% of all stock and fund holdings, a record high, while the wealth of the top 1%, the “super rich,” has exceeded the combined wealth of the entire middle class for the first time since the U.S. began keeping records. At the same time, opinion polls released by Harvard University and other institutions show that 40% of U.S. families are in serious financial trouble and about 1 out of 5 five households have used up all their savings. The Wall Street Journal recently noted that the surge in COVID-19 cases caused by the omicron variant together with high inflation have hit at U.S. confidence.

In addition, some U.S. politicians have politicized the pandemic and repeatedly issued racist remarks, which in turn has led to an increase in discrimination and hate crimes. On Jan. 15, an Asian woman was pushed from the platform in a New York subway station, and was killed instantly. Statistics show that there were more than 500 hate crimes in New York last year, with the crimes committed against Asian citizens increasing the most.

From the failure to fight the pandemic to political polarization, from the division between rich and poor to racial discrimination, the concentration of chaos and conflict is leaving Americans with growing anxiety. It is inevitable that their trust in government would be drop. CNN has noted that over the past year, the government’s handling of such issues has increasingly been questioned.

Jan. 20 marked the first year of the current U.S. administration. Edelman’s global trust survey results are a wake-up call. U.S. politicians need to think about why their trust ratings are falling and really listen to the American people. The people’s trust is the foundation of a country’s prosperity and growth. U.S. politicians in the throes of a crisis of confidence: It’s time to wake up!


全球最大的公关咨询公司爱德曼18日发布2022年度“爱德曼信任度晴雨表”报告,显示美国政府的公众信任度跌至新低。在美国现任政府执政一周年之际,法新社用“内外交困、怨声载道”来为其做出总结,这与爱德曼的调查结果相互印证:美国政府正面临严重的信任危机。
  从2000年起,爱德曼每年都发布关于全球政府信任度的调查报告。根据该机构去年11月1日至24日对28个国家超3.6万人进行的调查,中国民众对政府信任度达91%,为十年来最高水平,而美国民众对政府信任度跌至39%。
  一国政府执政水平如何,民众的信任是试金石。美国政府信任度跌至新低,背后是美国国内乱象的暴发与蔓延。这其中,抗疫失败显然首当其冲。
  根据美国约翰斯·霍普金斯大学17日发布的统计数据,美国累计确诊病例超过6500万例,累计死亡病例超过85万例,均居全球首位。从一开始,“抗疫政治化”就裹胁着美国抗疫进程,导致一个个鲜活的生命逝去。当生命权和健康权受到严重侵害,美国民众如何信任政府?
  疫情之下,美国的政治分歧和权力争斗被激化,社会分裂加剧,贫富差距更是令人触目惊心。根据美联储去年10月公布的数据:美国最富有的10%人群拥有美国89%的股票和基金持有权,创下历史新高;美国收入前1%的“超级富人”的财富已经超过中产阶级总和,为美国有统计以来的首次。与此同时,哈佛大学等机构发布的民调显示, 40%的美国家庭出现严重经济困难,约1/5家庭已耗光全部积蓄。《华尔街日报》近日指出,奥密克戎变异毒株导致的新冠肺炎病例激增以及高通胀,打击了美国人的信心。
  此外,美国一些政客将疫情政治化,多次在公开场合发表带有种族歧视的言论,导致种族歧视和仇恨犯罪愈演愈烈。就在15日,一名亚裔女子在纽约地铁站被推下站台当场身亡。据统计,去年一年纽约发生超过500起仇恨犯罪案,其中仇恨亚裔犯罪增加最多。
  从抗疫失败到政治极化,从贫富分化到种族歧视,如此多的乱象与矛盾集中暴发,令美国人的焦虑感越来越重,他们对政府的信任度降低也就不可避免。美国有线电视新闻网指出,过去一年来,美国政府处理问题的方式遭到越来越多的质疑。
  1月20日是美现任政府执政一周年的日子。爱德曼的全球信任度调查结果,是给其敲响的一记警钟。美国政客真要好好想想为什么信任度会跌跌不休,真该好好听听美国民众的呼声诉求。民众信任是国家繁荣发展的基础。处于信任危机之中的美国政客,该醒醒了!
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