A post-election survey from George Washington University adds more evidence that Americans are fragmented, polarized and distrustful.
“I think one of the most important takeaways of this survey is that it confirms the sentiments that have been in the ether around this election, which is to say that we are a very, very polarized and divided country,” said Lesley Lopez, the Public Relations and Communications program director at GW. “That split occurs along party lines and also gender lines. And then when it comes to news consumption, the split in generations is just as shocking as we thought it was going to be.”
The survey from the GW Graduate School of Political Management, in partnership with Schoen Cooperman Research, showed an overall erosion of public trust following the election.
A plurality of 39% of Americans have decreased trust in the government following the election, according to the survey. But that’s not a universally felt sentiment.
Men now express more trust in the government, while women express less trust. Republicans now express more trust in the government, while Democrats express less trust.
“We do see a lot of partisanship in terms of who controls the government,” said Todd Belt, the Political Management program director at GW. “Whoever has the presidency, it’s usually the other side that does not trust a lot of the institutions.”
The partisan-fueled distrust can be muted among Democrats because they tend to be more trusting in general of the government and institutions, Belt said.
“This is traditionally because Democrats see government as being the tool for bringing about the change that they want,” Belt said. “Republicans tend not to trust government to be a changemaker.”
The poll showed a slight plurality of 40% of Americans who believe the government will be more effective at getting things done going forward.
Democrats broadly believe the government will now be less effective, while Republicans say it will be more effective. Independents shared the Republican sentiment on that question, though to a lesser degree.
Trust in information generally is low, as a plurality of Americans said they don’t trust either the government or news organizations to provide fair and truthful information.
Nearly 70% of people said misinformation and disinformation made it harder to access fair and truthful news during the election.
Belt said people seek out information sources that will help them make sense of news through their lens of the world. And in the increasingly fragmented world, there are more places where people can indulge in confirmation bias.
Lopez said we just witnessed the podcast election.
“And I think a trend that we’re seeing emerging is the importance of personal brand and having third-party verifiers who can cut through this institutional distrust,” she said.
Lopez, who is also a Democratic delegate in the Maryland General Assembly, said President-elect Donald Trump has “a personal brand that people connect with.”
“For all of his faults, I think Donald Trump shows up authentically as himself, whether you like that or not,” she said.
Most of the GW survey respondents said they get their news and information from television (68%) or social media (50%).
People older than 40 relied more on TV news. People under 40 got their news primarily from social media.
The most common social media sites to access news were Facebook (51%) and YouTube (55%). But younger Americans were more likely to turn to TikTok and Instagram.
“We saw the (Kamala) Harris campaign pour a ton of money into TikTok and digital media, and it just didn’t work for them,” Belt said. “Because (younger adults are) a hard group to get to motivate. They might be using it for information, but getting them to get out and vote and to care is a real difficult lift.”
Belt said the problem with a lack of public trust in government is it leads to policy pendulum swings that cause a “snowball effect” of more distrust.
One president comes into office and wipes out the previous president’s policies with executive action. And the same thing happens four or eight years later when voters replace the occupant of the Oval Office.
“So, the lack of trust creates an inconsistency in governance, which then creates more lack of trust,” he said.
Have a news tip? Contact Cory Smith at [email protected] or at x.com/Cory_L_Smith. Content from The National Desk is provided by Sinclair, the parent company of FOX45 News.
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