For the first time in six years, trust in American institutions among young Americans between 18 and 29 years has increased. According to the Spring 2016 Harvard Public Opinion Project poll, trust levels in six out of ten institutions tested in the survey reversed their decline, while one stayed stagnant. Among the six institutions, the president topped the list, increasing 8 percent over last year’s 32 percent. In terms of yearly increases, the military and Congress came in second with an increase of 3 percent, garnering 51 percent and 18 percent, respectively. In contrast, the growing lack of trust in local governments, Wall Street, and the media continued, with a one or two percent drop each.
This turning of the tide invites an interesting question: what motivated the Millennials’ optimism about American institutions in the past year? The past twelve months surely witnessed important changes for most institutions. Obama’s administration came to its last year in power, the progression of the 2016 presidential election gave voters a surprise almost every single week, and a sudden vacancy in the Supreme Court brought the President Obama and the divided Congress into conflict. Yet not all these changes intuitively contributed to the increased trust level among young Americans. For example, why did the rancor and drama of the presidential election not disillusion young Americans?
One immediate explanation comes from the survey itself. Along with the growing trust in political institutions, there was also a similar pattern in political attitudes and beliefs in the efficacy of the political process. The percentage of young Americans who agreed with the statement “political involvement rarely has any tangible results” dropped from 29 percent to 27 percent. Respondents were also able to better align themselves with political leaders: 54 percent did not think that their elected officials held the same priorities as theirs, compared to 58 percent last year. Probably due to the public attention and discussion devoted to the current presidential election, 63 percent of young Americans disagreed with the statement “it really doesn’t matter to me who the president is,” an indicator of the increasing political interest among the young generation.
The timing was important in finding the reason for the increasing trust. Take the president, for example. Among the respondents, 40 percent affiliated themselves with the Democratic Party when it comes to voting but 59 percent of them voted for Barack Obama in the 2012 re-election, which means that President Obama won support across party lines among young Americans. As President Obama’s two terms are nearing to an end, many political analysts have been evaluating the legacy of the first black president of the United States, as have young Americans. A majority (55 percent) of young Americans approve of Obama’s job performance as president. In terms of specific issues, Obama gained significantly more approval in the ways he has dealt with climate change, the economy, and race relations, outweighing disapprovals by 15 percent, 9 percent, and 8 percent, respectively. In the other two areas, health care and response to ISIS, young Americans showed more disapproval than approval, probably due to the less-than-ideal execution of the Affordable Care Act and the tragic occurrence of several ISIS attacks during his terms.
Yet President Obama accomplished multiple agenda items that were highly related to the young people’s lives. The Education Reconciliation Act, which overhauled trillions dollars of student loans, freed low-income undergraduates struggling to pay their tuitions. Since Obama took office, almost 9.3 million new jobs were added and the unemployment rate dropped from 10 percent to 5 percent. This achievement was a big positive factor in the evaluation of the president among young Americans, who are concerned about economic issues the most (27 percent).
Generally, this growing trust in American institutions is heartening and may be indicative of the growing political interests and participation among young Americans.