Among the three branches of government, there’s no separation of dissatisfaction. After former President Barack Obama’s time in office, the public has become disillusioned with the nation’s experiment in democracy.
While government was doing more and more these last eight years, the public trusted less and less. Gallup reports “record lows” in the approval ratings of the president, Congress, and Supreme Court.
When Obama took office, 49 percent, or almost half, of the country trusted the nation’s political leaders. He promised to improve on that number by ushering in a new era of transparency. Despite his meager efforts, that number dropped to a new low of 42 percent in the last year of his term.
Though somewhat insulated from the public, the Supreme Court didn’t fare much better under Obama. The high court welcomed two new justices, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor, and decided dozens of important cases. Regardless, the Supreme Court registered just a 30 percent approval rating by 2014, the worst ever.
Congress fared worse than any other branch. Though closest to the people, confidence in the legislature sunk to 7 percent in 2014. That’s the lowest ebb ever and it’s the result of a bipartisan effort. Democrats controlled the House until 2010 and the Senate until 2014, when Republicans took over both chambers.
Americans are so pessimistic and cynical after the last eight years of partisan warfare that they don’t even trust themselves. Just over half, 56 percent, of the country has confidence in their fellow citizens to choose their leaders.
Bleak and unprecedented, it’s difficult to see how any one administration can turn these numbers around. It’d require nothing less than an era of good government. But perhaps there’s a silver lining. Confronted with ever sinking popularity numbers, perhaps politicians and government officials will abandon politics to focus simply on the business of governing.
Philip Wegmann is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
