Determinants of Confidence in U.S. Institutions: Comparing Congress and Corporations

Determinants of Confidence in U.S. Institutions: Comparing Congress and Corporations

Abstract

The political discourse surrounding the 2016 U.S. presidential election highlighted discontent with both Congress and corporations, a reality corroborated in recent scholarship highlighting declines in institutional confidence among U.S. citizens. Here we test theories of institutional confidence to understand the social and cultural determinants of confidence in Congress and corporations prior to the start of the 2016 presidential campaigns.