It may be hard to remember, but Americans once appreciated the government that serves them. That’s long gone.

Over the last six years, according to the Pew Research Center, four out of every five — or more — have said the government makes them feel either angry or frustrated. Last March, the ranks of the incensed included 78 percent of Bernie Sanders’s supporters and a whopping 98 percent of those backing Donald J. Trump.

More than half of voters — including 61 percent of Mr. Trump’s supporters — feel they are not keeping up with the rising cost of living. Three-quarters of Mr. Trump’s supporters feel that life for people like them is worse than it was 50 years ago.

Some of this is caused by irreversible forces. The days when white men kept an uncontested hold on political power, when young adults without a college degree could easily find a well-paid job, are not coming back.