Why trust matters
Subtitle: declining political trust and the demise of American liberalism
By: Marc J. Hetherington.
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Published: 2005
Place of publication: Princeton, NJ
Language: eng
Number of pages: 176
Subjects: Political participation -- United States.; Political alienation -- United States.; Public opinion -- United States.; Voting -- United States.; Progressivism (United States politics); United States -- Politics and government.
Description: "American public policy has become demonstrably more conservative since the 1960s. Neither Jimmy Carter nor Bill Clinton was much like either John F. Kennedy or Lyndon Johnson. The American public, however, has not become more conservative. Why, then, the right turn in public policy? Using both individual- and aggregate-level survey data, Marc Hetherington shows that the rapid decline in Americans' political trust since the 1960s is critical to explaining this puzzle. As people lost faith in the federal government, the delivery system for most progressive policies, they supported progressive ideas much less. The 9/11 attacks increased such trust as public attention focused on security, but the effect was temporary." "This book represents a substantial contribution to the study of public opinion and voting behavior, policy, and American politics generally."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.