WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2019) A supermajority of Americans has a prescription to fix declining confidence in government - muffle partisanship and replace insult-laden news shows with facts, the PEW Research Center said in a new report on Monday.
"Fully 84 percent believe the level of confidence Americans have in the Federal government can be improved," the report said. "Among the solutions they offer in their open-ended comments: muffle political partisanship and group-centered tribalism, refocus news coverage away from insult-ridden talk shows and sensationalist stories."
Republicans and those who lean Republican were more likely than Democrats and those who lean Democrat way to mention government performance and corruption - 31 percent vs. 24 percent - as reasons for declining trust in elected leaders, the report said.
But Democrats were more likely to blame President Donald Trump's performance as a contributor to declining trust in government - 24 percent vs. 3 percent, the report added.
Polling data going back more than 50 years show that public confidence in government fell precipitously in the 1960s and 1970s, recovered somewhat in the 1980s and early 2000s, and is near historic lows today, according to the report.
