ABSTRACT
Americans hate politics. They are skeptical of elected officials, and they suspect that special, elite interests trump the needs of the average Joe. The political system is broken, unfair, and corrupt-on that, everyone agrees, even America’s leaders. In the 2008 presidential election, two US senators argued over who was the least like “politics as usual,” and was therefore the better candidate.1 By 2010, the wake of the financial crisis had exacerbated this wave of distrust, which was marked by low approval of Congress and lack of confidence in public officials (ANES 2010; Pew 2010). Disdain for elected representatives continued to hit all-time lows, with Americans reporting that they have a higher opinion of root canals, head lice, traffic jams, and colonoscopies than Congress (Public Policy Polling 2013).2 And in today’s context of increasing inequality and decreasing state service provision, the political climate has only worsened. In short, Americans have come to distrust their democracy.
