Only 19 percent of Americans say they trust the government most of the time

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 23 November 2015

Only 19 percent of Americans say they generally trust the federal government to do what is right, according to a Pew Research Center report published Monday. That's near historic lows, according to Pew's data from 1958 onward.

The 19 percent figure breaks down into two groups: 3 percent who feel they can always trust the government and 16 percent who mostly trust the government. But on an issue level, a large majority of the survey participants did say the government is doing a good job with certain objectives, like protecting the U.S. from terror, responding to natural disasters, and regulating food and medicine.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Check out Pew's full report here.

Explore More

Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.