Gallup Says Americans Have Gained Confidence in Just One Institution: Police

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The police are the only U.S. institution that gained public confidence in the past year, according to a Gallup poll released Wednesday.

So what

Democrats have had to learn the hard way that law enforcement is actually pretty popular with Americans, and almost nobody wants to “defund the police.”

The numbers

Fifty-one percent of U.S. adults have “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in the police, per Gallup, a partial recovery from a dip in 2019 amid nationwide anti-policing protests following the death of George Floyd.

Public confidence — defined as “quite a lot” or more — fell in the other 13 major institutions Gallup has been asking about since 1973, to 33% overall from 36% in 2020.

  • Besides police, just two other institutions retained the confidence of most Americans: the military (69%) and small business (70%).
The biggest losers

Americans have the least confidence in Congress (12%), TV news (16%), the criminal justice system (20%) and newspapers (21%), Gallup found.

  • Public schools, amid extended pandemic closures and curriculum controversies, saw the biggest decline in confidence — to 32% from 41% in 20202.
By We'll Do It Live