Adults don’t trust gov’t, Purdue report says

A majority of Americans don’t place much trust in the government, according to a national poll by Purdue University undergraduates.

Nine students in the Purdue Institute of Civic Communication crafted 75 questions among four polls, which were distributed to more than 4,500 American adults between October and April by Penn Schoen Berland, a global political research organization.

“We spend a lot of time outside of class trying to think of questions that aren’t just surface level questions, that are insightful, that will offer unique perspective and kind of break through the noise,” said Frank Speek, a senior studying political science and history.

The polling unit will present its findings at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.

“(It’s) the first time a national poll, as far as we know, has ever been done by undergraduate students,” said Carolyn Curiel, a professor of communications and former ambassador. “It’s a poll on civic competence and there’s three measurements: What do you know, what do you do and how do you feel about the state of civic society?”

How do you feel?

While some statistics are encouraging, others are frightening.

In the civic confidence portion, for instance, nearly 40 percent of Americans reported they don’t trust any branch of government.

Half reported they don’t think the U.S. is prepared to protect them from unseen crises, and two-thirds said they think government is more concerned more about protecting big business.

What do you know?

On the bright side, the civic knowledge portion found a large majority — more than 90 percent — of Americans correctly identified “Obamacare” as the Affordable Care Act, the purpose of the Social Security program, the definition of a tax and the country to which New Mexico is home.

Smaller majorities — between 68 percent and 84 percent — correctly identified the three branches of government, the amount of national debt, the definition of the Federal Reserve and what comprises the Bill of Rights.

What do you do?

When it comes to civic participation, nearly a third of Americans said they don’t volunteer or give money to support a community service; 43 percent said they rarely participate in local programs or initiatives.

Those living in the Midwest were the most likely to volunteer, according to the polling report.

More than half said the best way to affect change is through voting, while a concern about the country’s direction drives more than a third to the polls for presidential elections.

Forty-three percent said they seek news daily, while more than half value accurate news content over unbiased, serious, timely or satirical reports.

The presentation at the National Archives coincides with an Institute for Civic Communication’s annual Maymester in Washington, D.C. Students attending this year will meet for class sessions at C-SPAN, The Washington Post and the White House.

“It really bridges the gap between the Midwest and D.C. in a way I don’t think any other program does,” said Katie Cahill, a graduate assistant for the civic institute at Purdue. “It’s important for students.”

By the numbers

37%

of Americans reported they don’t trust any branch of government

50%

said they don’t think the U.S. is prepared to protect them from unseen crises

62%

said they think the government cares more about protecting big business

28%

said they don’t volunteer or give money to support community services

48%

rarely participate in local programs or initiatives

51%

believe the best way to affect change is through voting