Americans’ trust in the national government is at an all-time low, as are favorable ratings for Congress and both major political parties, according to a study released by the Pew Research Center.The study, released in April, showed 22 percent of Americans said they can trust the government in Washington almost always or most of the time, among the lowest measures in half a century.Favorable ratings for Congress have declined during the last year from 50 percent to 25 percent, and favorable ratings for the Democratic Party have fallen from 59 percent to 38 percent and now stand at their lowest point in the Pew Research survey’s history. Republican Party’s ratings, which increased from 40 percent last August to 46 percent in February, have fallen back to 37 percent.”Variations in people’s trust in the government are affected dramatically by economic conditions,” said Robert Hogan, political science professor. “But it’s interesting that it’s not focused on one party.”  Extreme partisanship is a large part of the problem, Hogan said.”There have been some changes in the political landscape,” he said. “Parties in congress are more polarized than any time in recent history. Voters don’t like partisan bickering.”Johanna Dunaway, assistant political communications professor, said the media also plays a factor in trust ratings.”You always see Congress arguing and debating on the news. All the deliberations are public,” Dunaway said. “People see how hard it is to pass anything, and with the recent health care bill, people have just seen the ugliest deliberation process of all time.”Hogan said the constant exposure could sway people’s perception of government.”You start to question your desire to eat sausage after you’ve been to a sausage factory,” he said. “It’s a messy process.”Levels are at record lows because trust has been declining for the past few decades, Hogan said.”It’s been at a lower starting point than in the past, so it makes sense that it would be even lower than before,” he said. “That, and all these factors are coming together in ways we haven’t seen in the past.”Dunaway said constant bickering over the stimulus package and health care reform has driven home the ineptitude of the government.”It’s a perfect storm of frustration and distrust in the government,” she said. Trust levels were extremely high in the early 1960s with around 70 percent favorable ratings, according to Pew. But ratings dropped dramatically starting in 1966, around the time of the Vietnam War.Hogan said watershed events in the late ’60s like the Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War and Watergate triggered the decline.Trust ratings have never reached those levels again, according to Pew. Ratings dropped during the ’70s, reaching 25 percent in 1980, but rebounded to around 44 percent during former President Reagan’s term in office. Trust levels peaked to 47 percent during the first Gulf War and then dropped to the teens in the 1990s.Ratings jumped back up to 60 percent after the 9/11 terrorist attacks but continued to drop after events like the Iraq War, Hurricane Katrina and the current financial crisis.”Whenever there is an external threat, you see a large surge in national trust,” Dunaway said.But distrust isn’t necessarily a bad thing, she said.”People in democracies are supposed to be distrustful of the government,” she said. “It’s our job to watch them and vote them out if they are inept or corrupt.”The irony is the government has 90 percent incumbency, Dunaway said.”We the people bear some of the responsibility,” she said. “We are voting them back into office.”–Contact Sarah Eddington at [email protected]