Center for Studies in Higher Education

The Polarization in Trust for American Institutions since 1970

The well-known polarization of American politics in the past fifty years has led to polarization in evaluations of basic knowledge producing institutions, including higher education, science, and journalism, so that they are now trusted more by Democrats than by Republicans. Similarly there is polarization in evaluations of basic rules and values institutions such as the police, the military, and religion so that they are now trusted more by Republicans than Democrats. Using data from the 1970s onwards from three different polling organizations and a recent survey of their own, Dean Henry Brady and Brad Kent discuss what this means for American politics and for higher education.

Co-sponsored by the Institute of Governmental Studies