The public mostly shows low levels of trust in various social institutions, with the exception of small businesses, which top the list. Banks and other financial institutions, the federal government, and major companies are at the bottom. The graph shows those who have a “great deal of confidence” in each institution.

Similar questions have been asked on the General Social Survey from 1973-2008 (but without “small businesses,” which we added). Generally, our 2009 results are lower than the historical trends, but that is not necessarily because of a real decline in trust; it could be a result of differences in sampling methods. If we compare the order in which people ranked various institutions over time, we see that banks and major companies have fallen to near the bottom of the list of trusted institutions, whereas in the past they were often ranked second or third. This is no doubt a result of the current economic crisis.

Fifty-nine percent said they have some trust in the federal government to spend stimulus money wisely, compared to 60.4% for state governments and 67% for local governments. These results are surprisingly similar; usually trust is much higher for local governments. When our survey was fielded in May, the public seemed to be reasonably confident in the federal administration’s handling of the stimulus money. But attitudes toward the Obama Administration are shifting rapidly, according to other surveys.

We also found that levels of trust in various institutions varied greatly between people of different ethnic backgrounds this year. African Americans in our sample indicated much higher levels of trust in the federal government than Whites (40% versus 22%), while African Americans showed lower levels of trust in local and small businesses than Whites (15% versus 36%). Generally speaking, trust in federal government does not vary much by race/ethnicity, and this was true when we asked the same question in 2007 and 2008. The fact African Americans were significantly more likely to put a great deal of trust in the federal government this year may reflect a particularly high level of excitement for our nation’s first African American president.

In addition, African Americans were, and continue to be, highly politically engaged throughout the past year. Many are using technology to stay politically engaged: 40% used e-mail to discuss political issues within the past year, 21% expressed opinions via text message (more than any other racial group), and 22% watched presidential candidates’ speeches online during the campaign. Since the election, 29% of African Americans have tried to persuade friends about an issue that was discussed in the 2008 Presidential campaign. African Americans were also more likely to wear a campaign button or display signs than any other race.