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Confidence in Government During the 1980s

University of Iowa

Stephen A. Borrelli

University of Alabama

Data from the American National Election Studies are used to examine trends in political trust for the period of 1980 to 1988. The data reveal a substantial growth in trust during the first half of the eighties, followed by plummeting confidence in government at the end of the decade. A number of plausible explanations for these shifts in public trust are examined. The analysis reveals that the downturn in trust after 1984 was not a response to the Iran-Contra scandal of 1986. Rather, it reflected the emerging perception that Reagan lacked compassion, as well as growing dissatisfaction with foreign and domestic policies.

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