Mount Virtus

"Happy to come back to Michigan, but I miss the mountains!"

Ben on Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • LinkedIn
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Home
  • About Ben
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Writer / Editor For Hire
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
  • Archives
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
Home clean government Gallup Survey of Institutions: Congress Rock-Bottom, Presidency Falling Fast

7/27/2010 By Ben Leave a Comment

Gallup Survey of Institutions: Congress Rock-Bottom, Presidency Falling Fast

For what it’s worth, if you want a glimpse of the public mindset concerning 16 major institutions in American society, you should check out the new Gallup survey (H/T Mike Antonucci). The following are some salient observations on how favorably Americans view the 16 major institutions:

  • Congress slipped from next-to-last in 2009 to dead last this year, with only 11 percent saying they have a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence
  • No institution lost more confidence over the past year than the Presidency, which dropped from 51 percent to 36 percent — falling in rank from fifth to seventh
  • The three most respected American institutions, and the only ones to achieve high confidence from a majority of Americans: The military (76 percent), small business (66 percent) and the police (59 percent)
  • Apart from Congress, the three least respected American institutions are: HMOs (19 percent), big business (19 percent) and organized labor (20 percent) — though HMOs and big business actually ticked up in confidence from 2009
  • Only one other institution recorded an increase in confidence from the American public: the medical system, which went from 36 percent to 40 percent
  • Check out the survey to see where other institutions were rated: U.S. Supreme Court; criminal justice system; church/organized religion; public schools; banks; newspapers; television news

As far as a bellwether of popular sentiment heading into the 2010 election, the sum of these results indicates a mood very favorable to Republicans. Especially encouraging is the dramatic distinction between big business and small business. So is the declining faith in the federal government and its corruption and bureaucracy, which has vastly overreached and finally drawn the attention of a growing number of Americans.

Our national character long has distrusted big institutions (Big Government, Big Business, Big Labor)… but what are we going to do about it now?

Of course, the visceral disdain for Democratic Party rule and the fruits of Progressivism should not be confused with anything approaching a badly-needed long-term victory for liberty and limited government. In the battle for hearts and minds, little has been achieved. A lot of hard work remains. But it does count for something. Just observing….

Finally, a memo to political candidates and campaign staffs: If surveys like this one don’t inform your press releases and talking points, you really aren’t trying that hard.

Filed Under: clean government, Cultural Conservatism, Education, Fiscal Policy, Health Care, Journalism, Judiciary, Labor, liberty, National Politics, PPC

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Inside

  • About Ben
  • Archives
  • Colorado Ballot Reviews
    • Colorado Ballot 2008
    • Colorado Ballot 2010
    • Colorado Ballot 2012
    • Colorado Ballot 2014
  • Mount Virtus?
  • Passion and Purpose:
    The Rise & Fall of Al Gansee
  • What I’m Thankful For
  • Writer / Editor For Hire

About Me

Ben DeGrow
Grateful and growing Christian, devoted husband and father of 3, public policy analyst, returned to Michigan by way of Colorado, conservative writer, lifelong learner, Detroit Tigers fan.

Recent Posts

  • Top Books I Read in 2020
  • The All-New Christmas Music Countdown: Bigger, Better and Brighter Than Ever
  • Does the USA Face Future Divorce?
  • Resources for Veterans and their Families Amid the COVID-19 Outbreak
  • How To Keep Your Children Engaged While Learning from Home

Colorado News

  • Colorado Senate News
  • Complete Colorado
  • Independence Institute
  • Loveland Politics
  • The Colorado Observer

National News and Politics

  • Drudge Report
  • Hot Air
  • National Review
  • Politico
  • Real Clear Politics
  • Reason
  • The Washington Times
  • TownHall
  • Wall Street Journal
  • Weekly Standard
  • World Magazine

Blogs Extraordinaire

  • American Thinker
  • David Harsanyi’s Blog
  • E!! The True Conservative Story
  • EIA Intercepts
  • Evangelical Outpost
  • Hugh Hewitt
  • Instapundit
  • LaShawn Barber
  • Lileks
  • Little Green Footballs
  • Michelle Malkin
  • NRO's The Corner
  • Power Line
  • Red State

Completing the Blogroll

  • Alarming News
  • Black Five
  • Blogs of War
  • Eduwonk
  • Flypaper
  • Fraters Libertas
  • Historical Conversations
  • IMAO
  • Jay P. Greene
  • Mike Anderson
  • Mullings
  • Professor Bainbridge
  • Right Thinking
  • Right Wing News
  • Right Wing Nuthouse
  • Shot in the Dark
  • Talking Points Memo
  • Virginia Postrel
  • Volokh Conspiracy

Christian Commentary et al.

  • Kevin Pierpont
  • Sharper Iron

Conservative and GOP Sites

  • Backbone America
  • Cal Thomas
  • Colorado Republican Party
  • Colorado Republican Study Committee
  • Dennis Prager
  • Denver Metro Young Republicans
  • Free Republic
  • Heritage Foundation
  • Jefferson County Republican Party
  • Mackinac Center for Public Policy
  • Mark Steyn
  • Michael Medved
  • Rush Limbaugh

Colorado Blogs

  • American Kestrel
  • Bob Agard
  • Colorado Charter Schools
  • Colorado Peak Politics
  • Colorado Pols
  • Colorado Right
  • Conservative Libertarian Outpost
  • Coyote Gulch
  • Ed Is Watching
  • Free Colorado
  • Jeff Crank Show
  • Mark Hillman
  • Patient Power
  • PirateBallerina
  • Protein Wisdom
  • Reagan Girl
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 1.0 (Archive)
  • Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0 (Archive)
  • Rossputin
  • Stop the ACLU Blog
  • The Spot (Denver Post)
  • We Stand Firm

Other Sites

  • Technorati
  • Word Press

Rocky Mountain Alliance 2.0

  • Reclaim the Blue
  • The Business Word
  • The Daily Blogster
  • View from a Height

To Contact Me:
bendegrow-at-gmail.com

Copyright © 2021 RSS Feed · WordPress · Log in