Trust in Government and Party Identity Introduction People tend to be patriotic toward their country and will stand for what it stand for. The symbolism of the country: the flag, constitution, and national anthem are all held in deep regard with citizens of the Unites States. However people also tend to mistrust the government and the elected officials. Some people have the impression that politicians or elected officials are corrupt and are only looking for personal benefits. While this mistrust exists, people will identify with a political party that their beliefs align with. A person’s political identification at times is part of their identity. Therefore, if a certain party is in control of major institutions, people who identify with same party should trust the government. My hypothesis was that people that identified with the same party as the current President would trust the government more. With the current President being Obama, democrats should trust the government more. Literature Review …show more content…
Keele (2005) points out that people have an attachment to the party they identify with. They state that parties are used to govern and the more major institutions a party controls the more policy goals that party can reach. While the minority party still has some power, the majority party is the one that governs. Keele mentions that people trust a party if it takes them into consideration and if it will act with their best interest more than the opposition party. Keele concluded that partisans’ trust should increase when their party controls government and decline when their party loses control. They also concluded that independents would not be affected by changes in party control. (Keele,