Molly Novin

5/30/23
ENC 2135

In a functioning society, it is expected that there is a social contract between a

government and its citizens. A social contract is an implied, unwritten agreement between

members of society and a government. With this agreement, citizens give up some individual

freedoms in order to receive support and protection from the government. Successful social

contracts require a strong sense of trust between both parties. In recent years, the American

people’s trust in the federal government has declined. Recent polls have found that a majority of

Americans believe that the government does not have the people’s best interests in mind. I will

explore the different factors that have led to this increase in mistrust as well as the implications

of widespread mistrust in American society.

One of the most relevant reasons for the increase in mistrust in the American government

is the widespread use of mainstream social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter and

Instagram. These platforms foster an environment where it is easy to spread misinformation.

About half of Americans say that they get their news from social media platforms (Walker and

Matsa). While it may seem convenient to use social media platforms as a news source, there is a

high risk that users are exposed to misinformation. Social media platforms use algorithms to

generate content and advertisements for users. These algorithms reflect what users search for and

browse online. This places users in an echo chamber of their own thoughts and beliefs. For

example, if a user searches for The Daily Wire, a right-wing news organization, they will start to

be shown content similar to It Daily Wire in their feeds, essentially blocking any content with

opposing views from entering the user’s algorithm. Algorithms involuntarily subscribe users to a

certain viewpoint. This can eventually lead to polarization by being exposed to extreme political
content. However, some may argue that “[Americans] are incidentally exposed to incongruent

political information, which may depolarize partisan differences in resulting trust judgments

(Klein and Robison). Users who do not specifically seek out political content on social media

may come across an opposing viewpoint and give them a different perspective on political

issues. While this is possible, it is unlikely that this has a bigger impact on social media users

than polarizing political information does. Many social media platforms, such as Twitter, have

rules and policies against misinformation, impersonation, and manipulation. Unfortunately, due

to the vastness of these platforms, it is nearly impossible to review every single post for policy

violations. By the time a post is removed for violating these guidelines, it may have already been

seen and shared by other users.

Political polarization and partisanship play a big part in government mistrust, which is

reflected in our legislative process. Both Republican and Democratic politicians contribute to

partisanship in local, state, and national politics. Both parties point fingers and blame their

opposition for different issues that the country faces instead of working together to solve them.

This behavior leads to inaction, as politicians are unwilling to compromise and work on both

sides of the aisle. Inaction by the government is another factor that decreases trust in government

institutions. When a government institution is ineffective in resolving issues that everyday

Americans face, Americans begin to lose faith in these institutions. (Rainie and Perrin). They

believe that the people they elected to represent them do not have their best interests in mind and

that their biggest goal is to get reelected. This gives Americans a reason to opt out of civic

participation and abstain from voting in elections. Many Americans believe that their vote will

not make a difference in the outcome of elections, and therefore do not vote (Thomson-

DeVeaux, et al). A well-functioning government requires participation from both government

institutions and citizens. This inactivity can result in mutual mistrust and a cycle of

ineffectiveness.

Government corruption is another factor that has led to a rise in government mistrust.

Recently, unethical practices by Supreme Court justices, such as Clarence Thomas, have

decreased the confidence that Americans once held in the Supreme Court. Justice Thomas

enjoyed undisclosed luxury vacations paid for by billionaire Republican donor, Harlan Crow

(Kaplan et al). Unlike members of Congress, Supreme Court justices can accept gifts over $50

without prior approval. Justice Thomas’s unethical practices have contributed to low confidence

levels in the Supreme Court. Additionally, this once-high confidence level has dropped due to

the belief that the Supreme Court has become too partisan (Montanaro). The purpose of the

Supreme Court is to make decisions regarding if a law or case is constitutional or

unconstitutional and should not be influenced by the personal beliefs of sitting justices, and

Americans may feel that justices who have expressed particular beliefs may be influenced to

make decisions based on their personal opinions, rather than the law of the land.

One recent event that has contributed to a rise in the mistrust of the American

government was the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic escalated very quickly during the first

year that the virus spread in 2020. Little was known about the virus by health officials. Due to

the government’s lack of knowledge, they were unable to provide concrete information to

Americans about health guidelines. In February 2020, when the virus first spread, U.S. Surgeon

General Dr. Jerome Adams advised against buying face masks, tweeting, “They are NOT

effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers

can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk!” (Netburn).

Two months later, federal health officials changed their response after gathering more data about
the virus and advised the American public to wear face coverings in public to prevent the spread

of the virus. Additionally, social media played a role in misinformation campaigns claiming that

the pandemic is “fake”, that COVID was created as a bioweapon, and that the COVID-19

vaccine was pushed by Bill Gates to diminish the global population (Islam, Md, et al).

Misinformation spread about the pandemic and vaccine online made it even more difficult for

Americans to make decisions about an already confusing situation. A study conducted in the

Midwestern United States showed that as a result of misinformation on social media that

conflicted with information from health officials and reliable media outlets, some Americans felt

little confidence in the opinions they made about the pandemic (Ternullo). While this study was

a small sample of Midwesterners and therefore cannot be applied to the general American

population. However, it does offer insight into the potential effects of conflicting information

about the coronavirus pandemic. Receiving conflicting information from two different sources

about the pandemic may lead Americans to mistrust the information from the government.

All of these factors that cause mistrust in the government can lead to dire consequences

that impact American life. Another example involving the COVID-19 pandemic is conspiracy

theories involving the COVID-19 vaccine. Misinformation about the coronavirus has led to the

formation of several conspiracy theories surrounding the vaccine, claiming that the vaccine can

alter your DNA or that the government is using the vaccine as a vessel to implant microchips

into people’s bodies. Many Americans fully believed these conspiracies which led them to make

a decision not to receive the vaccine or reject treatment when they test positive for the virus. This

mistrust in our country’s health institutions has had deadly consequences. About 234,000

COVID-19-related deaths from June 2021 to March 2022 could have been prevented if victims
had received a vaccine (Amin et al). By not trusting the government’s advice regarding safe and

effective vaccines, people have died.

Public health initiatives have not been the only thing that has been affected by mistrust in

the government. Mistrust can cause a lack of support for government initiatives, institutions, and

policies. Another example of the effects of mistrust in the government is the lack of trust in

election systems. This can have detrimental effects on our democracy. During the 2020

presidential election, former President Donald Trump pushed a false narrative that the election

had been “stolen” after he lost to President Joe Biden. President Trump put forward baseless

claims of mass voter fraud in states such as Georgia and Arizona, where votes were being

recounted. On Twitter, Trump shared articles and video clips from right-wing media platforms,

such as One America News, as well as tweets from his supporters, who Trump had convinced

that he had won the election and that it was stolen from him. Over the next few months, the ‘Stop

the Steal’ rally was organized in Washington, D.C. The purpose of the rally was to support

President Trump by protesting the congressional certification of the 2020 presidential election

results. The rally led to a violent attack on the United States Capitol by attendees. In this case,

government mistrust was propelled by government officials. After several investigations, it has

been concluded that actual cases of voter fraud are rare and essentially nonexistent. However,

voter fraud has received extensive media coverage, making it seem like a bigger issue than it

really is.

While government mistrust is on the rise, there are particular institutions that Americans

hold more favorable opinions towards. These institutions typically do not involve politics,

making them generally bipartisan. These institutions include the National Park Service, the South

Security Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Department of
Veterans Affairs, and the Census Bureau (Kight). These are agencies that act as a public good

and usually do not make policy that leans on either end of the political spectrum.

In order for trust to be effective, it must be mutual. Citizens must trust their government

to have their best interests in mind, and a government must trust its citizens to have faith in the

government and obey laws that are implemented. An example of this involves anti-

discriminatory laws. Minority citizens must trust that the government will enact laws that

implement protects minorities, while the government must trust citizens will not partake in

discriminatory practices (Lenard). Trust in our democracy and government institutions is a two-

way street. As citizens, we must trust each other. After all, those who make up our government

are also Americans. Like trust in the government, our trust in each other has also declined

(Rainie and Perrin). There is a connection between our trust in each other and our trust in the

government.

In conclusion, mistrust in the government is on the incline. After researching this topic, I

have concluded that misinformation is the biggest factor in this increase. With social media

increasingly being used as a news source, it can be difficult for Americans to separate what is

true from what is false. There is a responsibility for Americans to stay vigilant when consuming

news in order to avoid misinformation online. Additionally, there is a responsibility for social

media platforms to filter and flag misinformation in order to prevent the spread of false

information.
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