Americans’ trust in the nation’s court system has reached a record low, according to a new Gallup poll out this week. Just 35% of Americans trust in the judicial system and courts, putting it well below the average of other highly developed countries.
The drop is substantial and unique to the United States, which has seen major political divides over rulings like the Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade, and the decisions by prosecutors to charge former President Donald Trump.
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On average, other countries have mostly held firm in their trust of courts over the last four years. However, the U.S. saw trust drop by 24%.
The poll didn’t ask for respondents to give their political party affiliation, but it did ask whether people approved or disapproved of leadership.
Under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump, it was normal for those who liked leadership to hold steady in their approval rating of courts, and for those who didn’t like leadership to see a drop.
But under President Joe Biden, both people who approved and those that disapproved of the country’s leadership saw their trust in courts drop at roughly the same rate.
And the courts had a particularly large drop even compared to other institutions. Their drop over the past four years is larger than the drop Gallup tracked in the trust of institutions including the military, financial institutions and the federal government.
