Losing Faith: New Report Finds Public Trust in Government on the Wane

A new report sees trust in the United States federal government dwindling, but finds Americans in agreement that a non-partisan, merit-based civil service is critical to functioning as a democracy.

The Partnership for Public Service recently released The State of Public Trust in Government 2024, which surveyed 800 American adults in the spring of 2024. Among those polled, just 23% said they trust the federal government, compared to 35% who said the same in a similar Partnership for Public Service survey conducted in 2022.

Only 15% believe the government is transparent, versus 21% indicating as much two years ago. At the moment, 66% of respondents feel the federal government is incompetent, a 10% increase since 2022, according to the Partnership for Public Service. Just 29% said they think democracy is working in 2024, with 68% saying it is not.

“The decline in the public’s trust of the federal government—our most important democratic institution—is alarming,” said Max Stier, president and CEO of the Partnership for Public Service, in a statement highlighting the survey findings. “This downward trend has serious consequences for the country and for the health of our democracy.”

The report offers a number of reforms that the Partnership says would make government more effective and responsive—increasing accountability for poor performers, strengthening federal leadership, ensuring the federal government recruits top talent, for instance. And, while trust in the highest levels of government may be waning, Americans “overwhelmingly view an effective federal government and a professional, nonpartisan civil service as crucial for our democracy,” according to the Partnership for Public Service.

In addition, 90% of Americans value an effectively functioning federal government as an integral part of a well-functioning democracy, with 91% saying that a competent civil service is essential to maintaining such a democracy.

Nearly all Americans also agreed that further politicizing civil service is not the answer for making government more effective. Ninety-five percent of Americans—across political affiliations and ideologies—said that civil servants should be hired based on merit as opposed to partisan loyalties, “and serve the people more than any individual president,” according to the report. Support for a merit-based civil service actually grew across most demographics from 2022 to 2024, the Partnership for Public Service noted.

“Our new data shows that while there is low trust in government, Americans of all political stripes overwhelmingly support and value a professional, nonpartisan and competent civil service. However, the data also demonstrates that they don’t believe they have that type of government today,” said Stier.

“While some have sought to exploit this dissatisfaction by calling for the firing of civil servants and the weakening of civil service protections, the better course of action—one far more in line with public opinion—would be to build a well-functioning government that more effectively serves all.”