Gallup Poll: Confidence In US Government Rises; Courts Most Popular Branch

Americans have more confidence in the government than they had in 2014 and 2015, with the courts the most popular branch and Congress the least, a Gallup poll indicated Monday.

The poll of 1,020 adults found confidence in the judiciary rose to 61 percent from 53 percent while confidence in the executive branch rose 8 points to 51 percent and confidence in Congress improved 7 points to 35 percent.

Poll analysts said the popularity of the Supreme Court largely rests on the nature of its big decisions, citing decisions preserving the Affordable Care Act and legalizing same-sex marriage.

Twenty-four percent of Americans said they have no confidence in the executive branch, while 20 percent have no confidence in the legislative branch and 9 percent have no confidence in the judiciary.

Along party lines, 84 percent of Democrats trust the executive branch and 71 percent have faith in the judiciary while only 18 percent of Republicans have confidence in the executive branch and 51 percent approve of the judiciary. Confidence in the legislative branch was split 37 percent to 34 percent, Democrats vs. Republicans.

Forty-nine percent of those polled said they trust the government to handle international problems and 44 percent said the feds can handle domestic problems, with Democrats more confident on both scores than Republicans.

“The current pattern of high Democratic confidence and low Republican confidence will likely continue if Democrat Hillary Clinton wins the presidential election,” Gallup analysts predicted. “Conversely, partisan confidence levels could reverse if Trump prevails.”

The survey was conducted Sept. 7-11 and has a 4-point margin of error with a 95 percent confidence level.

Gallup’s daily poll indicates 51 percent of Americans approve of the job President Barack Obama is doing, with 45 percent disapproving, based on interviews with 1,500 adults. That compares with a 68 percent approval rating at the start of his presidency. His approval rating fell to 40 percent in September 2014.