Tracing the Decline of Trust in America
Welcome to Up for Debate. Each week, Conor Friedersdorf rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Later, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here.
Question of the Week
Do you trust America’s institutions more than, less than, or as much as you did a decade ago? Why? Feel free to respond generally or to focus on one particular institution, or more, in your emails.
Send your responses to conor@theatlantic.com or simply reply to this email.
Conversations of Note
In the New York Post, Gerard Baker, the writer, columnist, and former editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal, previews his new book, American Breakdown: Why We No Longer Trust Our Leaders and Institutions and How We Can Rebuild Confidence. The problem as he sees it:
Congress, the presidency, the FBI, the judiciary, the media, colleges and universities, big business, churches, scientists, technology companies, labor unions, public health leaders. What do all these institutions have in common?
Answer: Americans don’t trust them any more.
In the last 30 years, we have witnessed something unprecedented and perilous to the very survival of American democracy—a collapse in public trust in the nation’s leaders and institutions.
If there is one phenomenon that captures better than anything else what’s gone wrong with America in the last few years it is this: we live in a culture of mistrust.
All the major institutions
