 | Why Trust Matters American public policy has become demonstrably more conservative since the 1960s. Neither Jimmy Carter nor Bill Clinton was much like either John F. Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson. The American public, however, has not become more conservative. Why, then, the right turn in public policy? Using both individual and aggregate level survey data, Marc Hetherington shows that the rapid decline in Americans' political trust since the 1960s is critical to explaining this puzzle. As people lost faith in the federal government, the delivery system for most progressive policies, they supported progressive ideas much less. The 9/11 attacks increased such trust as public attention focused on security, but the effect was temporary. Marc J. Hetherington is Associate Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University. He has published numerous articles in the American Political Science Review , the American Journal of Political Science , and the Journal of Politics , mostly on public opinion and political behavior. He is also coauthor of Parties, Politics, and Public Policy in America, 9th edition , with William J. Keefe. |
