ABSTRACT
Candidates have to face the harsh realities of public opinion: most voters today don’t trust, admire, or respect politicians. Our confidence and trust in government and institutions have steadily deteriorated over the past thirtyfive years; we are more suspicious of Washington and entrenched politicians, and public service has lost much of its distinctiveness and attraction. Several studies have tracked this erosion of public trust and confidence. One report, commissioned by the Washington Post, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, and Harvard University1 found that America had become a nation of “suspicious strangers” who have lost faith in the federal government and virtually every other national institution.2 Furthermore, Americans had also lost faith in one another: only 35 percent of the public in 1995 said they could trust others, down from 54 percent in 1964 surveys, and citizens who distrusted others were suspicious of government and significantly less likely to vote in the last two national elections.3
