Winning Over a Cynical Public

Over time, Americans have traditionally been distrustful of government, and disdainful of authority in general. ¹ Their attitudes toward government, which range from healthy skepticism to scathing cynicism, are often credited with maintaining a healthy democracy by acting as a mechanism for keeping politicians and policymakers honest. ² At times, the cynicism of citizens is seen as a threat to the political process, leading to apathy, antagonism or even “a decaying of the social and political order.” ³ Since the 1970s studies have shown that cynicism is on the rise, ⁴ paralleling a “long-term slide in public confidence in the core institutions of representative democracy.” ⁵ And while some scholars maintain that “robust predictors of trust or confidence” are elusive, they acknowledge “a contemporary zeitgeist of suspicion and cynicism,” ⁶ a veritable “epidemic” of cynicism blamed for the “deterioration of public discourse.” ⁷