For the first time since the Public Strategies/POLITICO Public Trust Monitor was launched, a majority of Americans - 53% - believes things in business are on the right track, up from 40% in our March survey. Also, when asked which will play a larger role "in helping our economy recover," 68% said business, while 32% said government.
Support for increased regulation of business has steadily waned since the initial survey in December 2008. Today, 48% favor increased regulation, a 19-point drop since December. The majority now believes that regulations should be kept the same (25%) or decreased (27%).
"While this slippage in trust for the government is coupled with modest gains in trust of corporations, trust in government remains higher than that for corporations," said Jeff Eller, vice chairman of Public Strategies, Inc. "Trust in business is recovering, but corporate America is not quite out of the woods yet."
On the issue of health care, there is a desire for reform - 58% believe the government "should be doing more." The public is divided on whether adding a government-managed coverage option will make access better (38%), worse (40%), or have no impact (22%). A 42% plurality believes a government coverage option will hurt quality, with 33% saying it would improve quality and 22% saying quality would stay the same.
In addition, Americans continue to take a very dim view of the economy. The overwhelming majority of people (85%) label the national economy as weak, and 81% described the job market in their area the same way. While a plurality - 45% - believes that the economic stimulus package will help the economy, only 22% think it will help them personally.
"The trend in our surveys show that as Americans become more familiar with the specific policy proposals coming from the White House and Congress, they are less willing to back a high level of government involvement in business than they were at the beginning of the year," said Dan Bartlett, president and CEO of Public Strategies, Inc. "The results demonstrate that the public is growing less confident the government has the proper solutions to the country’s problems."
Obama, Democrats, Republicans
While President Obama still enjoys healthy levels of support from the public, the percentage of those putting their trust in him has slipped.
Obama’s trust rating - the confidence of voters in his ability to address the nation’s problems - now stands at 54%, down from 66% in March. While Obama retains a higher level of personal trust than any other politician or public figure, concerns about government overreach is on the rise. Of particular note, the trust independent voters place in Obama has dropped from 64% to 49% since March.
Similarly, the Democratic party, which enjoys majority status in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, saw a 10-point drop in its trust rating, from 52% to 42% since March. A majority of American voters (53%) now say they do not trust the Democratic party to identify the right solutions to the nation’s problems.
The drop in trust, however, is not restricted to President Obama or Democrats. Republicans in Congress have seen their trust level drop to 36%, from 40% in March.
Shift in Public Trust Over Time
The inaugural Public Trust Monitor, conducted in December 2008, found that a majority of the voting public had lost confidence both in government and business during the preceding year. Voters also believed that American business was on the wrong track, that federal regulation of business should be increased, and that the federal government would go too far in providing assistance to corporations.
The second survey, conducted in March, found that trust in government had increased (fueled primarily by Democrats), while trust in corporations remained unchanged. Corporations did see an uptick with those saying business is on the right track increasing from 28% in December up to 40% in March. This upward trend continues according to the new survey.
