Key findings about Americans’ declining trust in government and each other
Americans say the public’s trust has been declining in both the federal government and in their fellow citizens. But most say this can be turned around.
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3. Humanity is at a precipice; its future is at stake
The following sections share selections of comments from technology experts and futurists who elaborate on the ways internet use has shaped humanity over the past 50 years and consider the potential future of digital life. They are gathered under broad, overarching ideas, rather than being tied to the specific themes highlighted above. Many of the […]
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4. The European Union
The European Union gets mostly favorable marks from the countries surveyed, but not everyone is happy with the Brussels-based institution. Across the 14 EU member countries surveyed, a median of 67% hold favorable views of the European Union while 31% have an unfavorable view. Many of the Central and Eastern European countries surveyed hold strongly […]
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Appendix: Classifying the parties
Classifying parties as populist We define “populist” parties as those that display high levels of anti-elitism. We do this on the basis of the Chapel Hill Expert Survey. This survey, which was carried out in January and February 2018, asked 228 regional experts to evaluate the 2017 party positions of 132 European political parties across […]
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2. Publics satisfied with free speech, ability to improve living standards; many are critical of institutions, politicians
A median of 62% say their country is one where the rights of people to express their views in public are protected. When asked about a number of different statements that describe their country, this ranks as one of the first or second most cited in two-thirds of the countries surveyed. Publics are also optimistic […]
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4. Americans’ solutions for trust-related problems
Most believe that Americans’ trust in their government and in each other can be improved. They propose an array of solutions to achieve these improvements, including increasing government transparency, improving community cooperation and performing individual acts of kindness. A share of the public thinks that more political compromise on national issues could restore trust both […]
