Trust in democratic governments at record level: Survey

Public confidence in democratic governments in countries like the United States and Germany has fallen to record levels, according to a new survey.

The 2022 Edelman Confidence Barometer Transfer, which measures average trust in institutions such as governments, media, NGOs, and companies, found that trust fell the most for Germany (7 percentage points), Australia, the Netherlands (6 points each), South Korea and the United States. Countries (all 5 points)) compared to the 2021 level.

Among the countries with an increase in confidence are China (11 percentage points), the United Arab Emirates (9 points) and Thailand (5 points).

According to the survey, the US confidence index has fallen by 10 points since 2017.

Reuters noted that the decline in trust between democratic governments is linked to how these institutions respond to the Covid-19 pandemic, adding that the survey was conducted amid concerns about the economy.

Richard Edelman, chief executive of the telecommunications company that published the survey, told the news service that he believed China scored better in the survey because “there is a correlation between what is done and what is said” when it comes to Beijing’s policies.

The new vote comes amid politically charged tensions in the United States, which faced an uprising in the capital just a year ago over the results of the 2020 presidential election, divisions within political parties, and a global pandemic.

The 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer survey was conducted between November 1 and November 24 with 28 countries and more than 36,000 respondents. The error rate was 0.6 percentage points.