High Point poll finds low support for federal government branches

A recent High Point University poll found low approval ratings for national government institutions.

The survey of just over 1,000 North Carolinians found President Joe Biden’s approval rating underwater at 37 percent. But that was higher than for Congress — at 16 percent – and even the U.S. Supreme Court’s approval of 28 percent.

Asher Hildebrand is with Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy. He says the low figures point to the need to rebuild trust in government as a necessary means of collective action.

“We have to reclaim the vision of a government that works for the people, that is accessible to the people, and that is responsive to their needs," he says. "When people in general, young people especially lose sight of that vision then we’re really in trouble as a country.”

Hildebrand says trust in elective offices has been declining for decades but the low approval of the Supreme Court is a relatively new phenomenon. He says in the past many people have considered the court above the political fray but that may have changed because of recent decisions and controversies.