![]() ![]() This distrust was cultivated by conservative business leaders for nearly a century, but took strong hold during the Reagan administration, largely in response to scientific evidence of environmental crises that invited governmental response. In this essay, we argue that conservative hostility toward science is rooted in conservative hostility toward government regulation of the marketplace, which has morphed in recent decades into conservative hostility to government, tout court. They do support the conclusion of a crisis of conservative trust in science: polls show that American attitudes toward science are highly polarized along political lines. In the context of this divide, we explore how trust in various information sources, from governmental institutions to the media, relates to trust in science, and suggest that the best avenue for rebuilding trust might be through empowering local institutions and leaders to help manage future crises.Įmpirical data do not support the conclusion of a crisis of public trust in science. Meanwhile, Democrats’ trust in science has remained high throughout the pandemic. ![]() Notably, our research shows a stark partisan divide: Republicans had lower support for public health guidelines, and their trust in science and institutions such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health eroded over time. In this essay, we share our findings and offer ideas about what might be done to strengthen the public’s trust in science. ![]() Early in the pandemic, our research team set out to understand how trust in science relates to support for public health guidelines, and to identify some trusted sources of science. The COVID-19 pandemic prompted many discussions about how people’s trust in science shaped our ability to address the crisis. With polarization and decreasing trust in institutions, it becomes more difficult to fight epidemics, maintain faith in policing, and deal with problems such as climate change. Declines and polarization in confidence may be traceable to political polarization stemming from increasing income inequality and segregation in America. In turn, Democrats trust labor, the press, science, higher education, and public schools much more than Republicans, whose confidence in these institutions has fallen. Declines are also the result of a polarization in trust in institutions, as Republicans trust business, the police, religion, and the military much more than Democrats, whose confidence in these institutions, except the military, has fallen. Declines in trust are partly the result of dissatisfaction with governmental and institutional accountability and concomitant skepticism about the competency and responsiveness of institutions. Knight Foundation, which supports a more effective democracy in America by investing in journalism, community, arts, and research in the areas of media and democracy.Įxcept for the military and science, confidence in most American political and nonpolitical institutions has fallen precipitously over the past fifty years. ![]() This Dædalus issue is made possible, in part, by a generous gift from the John S. But can these relationships be broken? And how does the polarization of trust affect institutions’ ability to confront shared problems, like climate change, epidemics, and economic collapse? Refusals to follow public health guidance about COVID-19, calls to defund the police, the rejection of election results, and disbelief of the press highlight the growing polarization of trust. What is less well-documented is how partisan polarization now aligns with the growing distrust of institutions once thought of as nonpolitical. But institutions and the people who lead them cannot fulfill their missions if they have lost legitimacy in the eyes of the people they are meant to serve.Īmericans’ distrust of Congress is long-standing. They develop and disseminate knowledge, enforce the law, keep us healthy, shape labor relations, and uphold social and religious norms. Institutions are critical to our personal and societal well-being. ![]()
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