Is Discontent with Government a Recipe for Constitutional Crisis, or Reform?
The American people are extremely less optimistic about “our system of government and how well it works” than at any time in the past several decades, according to the latest ABC News/Washington Post:
Only 26 percent of Americans in a new ABC News/Washington Post poll say they’re optimistic about “our system of government and how well it works,” down 7 points since October to the fewest in surveys dating to 1974. Almost as many, 23 percent, are pessimistic, the closest these measures ever have come. The rest, a record high, are “uncertain” about the system.
This chart shows a rather scary slide in support for our entire system of governance. From ABC News/Washington Post (PDF):
Optimism remained relatively steady for several decades–until the last few years. Since then, faith in our system of government has been almost cut in half, from 44 percent in the first month of 2008, to just 26 percent now.
With a divided, gridlocked federal government that seems incredibly disconnected from the wishes of the American people, a Senate crippled by its own insane traditions and a growing uneasiness with the influence of