Declining Trust in Institutions
“For 17 years,
Edelman has been asking people around the world about their level of trust in
various institutions. Last year, the firm warned of a growing gap between
elites, who largely trusted their country’s institutions, and non-elites, who
mostly didn’t. Now, as 2017 begins, the firm is declaring that trust, an
essential element of functioning societies, is “in crisis” in many countries….
Critically, Edelman
has also documented a widening trust gap between what the firm calls “mass
populations” and “informed publics,” with the latter group defined as those
aged 25 to 64 who have a college degree, regularly read news media, and are in
the top 25 percent of household income for their age group in a given country.
This year, the
difference in average trust in institutions between these two groups was 15
percentage points, up from nine points in 2012. The gap was greatest in the
United States (21 points), the United Kingdom (19 points), and France (18
points). In 20 of the 28 surveyed countries, the majority of the mass
population distrusted their institutions; the same can be said for informed
publics in just six of those 28 countries.”
With President
Trump, American democracy faces its greatest test by Marilynne Robinson
Brexit Into
Trumpland by Philippe Legrain
Power Grab in Turkey - Push to Concentrate Power Nears
Climax:
“President Recep
Tayyip Erdogan’s campaign to secure sweeping executive authority won approval
of Turkey’s parliament early Saturday. Turks will have the final say in a
referendum that could be held in early April….
“Turkey’s drift
towards authoritarianism will accelerate in 2017. The odds that President
Erdogan will be able to achieve a formal, full executive presidency through a
referendum on a new constitution are favorable,” Anthony Skinner, a director
with U.K.-based forecasting company Verisk Maplecroft, said in a report
published earlier this week. “This is partly a by-product of the nationalist
fervor Erdogan has drummed up in the aftermath of a failed coup to unseat him
in July 2016.””