At the end of 2021, trust in the federal government was at an all-time low. Trust in the government is important for all levels: local, state, and federal. If citizens trust the government, they will be more likely to approve of new legislation, and more likely to vote, and overall crime and violence rates will decrease. However, it primarily is important for the federal government, as it is the farthest perceived level of government. Given the events of the last couple of years, I was primarily interested in how those events would impact trust for the newest generation of voters: Generation Z.
Generation Z has the lowest level of trust compared to all current living generations. In my research, I used data from the American National Election Studies that spanned from 1958-2020. I studied the average level of trust across the six generations I included in my study. The six generations included in my analysis were the Greatest Generation, Silent Generation, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millennials, and Generation Z.
After taking the average level of trust from each generation in each survey year, I found that not only has trust been decreasing across all generations, but each new generation had entered with a significantly higher level of trust than the previous one, apart from Baby Boomers, who started out lower than the Greatest and Silent Generations. What was more fascinating was that Generation Z started out significantly higher than all previous generations in 2016 but dropped dramatically in 2020, nearly 11%, where most generations were actually increasing or stayed constant. The typical trend over the last sixty years is that each new generation starts out significantly higher and then assimilates with the rest of the current voting generations. For Generation Z, this wasn’t the case. While previous generations were rising, Generation Z was still decreasing
Why might trust in the government be declining as a whole? When comparing what is different between older generations and newer generations, I have attributed this to three reasons. Firstly, the invention of the internet and the 24/7 news cycle. It is now easier than ever to find information and stay updated about even the most obscure things. We are now more effectively able to compare our government to other governments around the world at a much faster rate than ever imagined. Secondly, due to the invention of the internet, we have seen increased globalization. Instead of people seeing themselves as citizens of a nation, younger generations have begun seeing themselves as citizens of the world. Popular political issues, like climate change and the economy, require a global perspective instead of a national one. These issues require concentrated efforts from all nations to make progress and attempt to fix these issues. Thirdly, increased party polarization over the last few years has made it nearly impossible to tell fact from fiction. Both Democrat and Republican candidates have completely distorted what the truth really is and spread misinformation to further their own agenda.
Due to the ever-evolving technology, Generation Z is the most technologically savvy and more engaged online than any other previous generation because they have grown up with it. Next, due to the increased globalization, this generation is more particular about what brands they buy and companies they partner with. This generation cares if the products are ethically sourced if the company has fair labor practices, if the products are vegan/cruelty-free, and even if the company aligns with their political ideology. Finally, this generation is significantly more stressed than previous generations and is more likely to report it. When considering the events of the last few years, this generation’s future has become increasingly uncertain due to the state of the economy with inflation. This generation is trying to survive and get by, which could have an impact on their level of trust. Alternatively, when looking at the last survey year, it occurred in 2020. The events of that year could have acted as an anchoring bias and caused them to have a decreased level of trust compared to the older generations. Further research on this generation’s level of trust is necessary to determine if this is the case.
Joelle Cox is a senior at Indiana University’s O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs.
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