Americans’ average confidence in major U.S. institutions is unchanged since last year, with a near-record-low 28% of U.S. adults expressing “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in nine institutions tracked consistently since 1979. This is the fourth consecutive year of sub-30% averages, but this overall stability belies significant shifts in partisans’ confidence after Donald Trump replaced Joe Biden as president. On average across these nine institutions, Democrats’ confidence, at 26%, has decreased by five percentage points and sits at a new low, while Republicans’ 37% reflects an increase of nine points and is the highest reading since 2020. Partisans’ confidence levels diverge the most on the presidency and the police, with Republicans much more confident than Democrats in each. More generally, of 18 key U.S. institutions included in this year’s survey, just three earn majority-level confidence from Americans — small business, the military and science.
