How much do you trust the government, on a 100-point scale?

Trust in government index · Asked in 26 waves, 1958–2020 · 56,248 responses · weighted estimates computed from individual responses

Dropped as not asked: 999 'Not scored in all of: VCF0604, VCF0605, VCF0606, VCF0608.'. Codebook notes: GENERAL NOTE: Built from VCF0604, VCF0605, VCF0606, VCF0608. Component vars are first recoded as follows: VCF0604: 1=0,2=33,3=67,4=100; VCF0605: 1=0, 2=100; VCF0606,VCF0608: 1=0,2=50,3=100. The recoded values are then totaled and divided by the number of valid responses. The result is then rounded.

Average answer over time

Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. → mixed mode (2012).

Average by group over time

Party Ideology Age Sex Race & ethnicity Education Income Region Religion Community

Dashed lines mark changes in how interviews were done, which can shift answers: 1. → mixed mode (2012).

Weighted means. Groups with fewer than 50 respondents in a wave are left out of that wave.

Waves

Poll	Field dates	Mode	Respondents	Responses
ANES 2020 Time Series Study	2020-08-18 to 2021-01-04	mixed	8,280	8,259
ANES 2016 Time Series Study	2016-09-07 to 2017-01-09	mixed	4,270	4,253
ANES 2012 Time Series Study	2012-09-09 to 2013-01-13	mixed	5,914	5,904
ANES 2008 Time Series Study	2008-09-02 to 2008-12-30	face to face	2,322	2,101
ANES 2004 Time Series Study	2004-09-07 to 2004-12-19	face to face	1,212	1,064
ANES 2002 Time Series Study	2002-09-18 to 2002-12-06	phone	1,511	1,344
ANES 2000 Time Series Study	2000-09-05 to 2000-12-22	mixed	1,807	1,551
ANES 1998 Time Series Study	1998-11-04 to 1998-12-23	mixed	1,281	1,274
ANES 1996 Time Series Study	1996-09-03 to 1997-01-02	mixed	1,714	1,529
ANES 1994 Time Series Study