The decline of civic trust in the United States: a critical assessment of competing explanations

Do you trust your neighbor? What about your congressman? Regardless of your answer, the odds are it's far less likely that you would respond "yes" to both these questions than your parents or grandparents. Evidence suggests that trust in politics in general has been declining in the United States since 1965 (ANES 2008; ANES 2018; Vallier 2020; Jones 2022; Pew 2024). What is the cause of the decline of trust in the United States? The objective of this thesis is to critically review the competing explanations for this question in light of the evidence collected from surveys. These existing theories which attempt to explain decreases in the general levels of trust in politics include social capital theory, an institutional theory, and several versions of political economy. (Putnam 1993; Skocpol 1996; Putnam 2000; Skocpol 2003; Uslaner 2010; Mishel 2015; Kroknes et al 2016; Torrente et al 2019; Mikaelian & Cohen 2021; Wu et al 2024). The thesis argues that none of these currently existing theoretical frameworks can fully explain the empirical evidence present in the form of survey data on civic trusts decline. As a result of this analysis, it is further argued that the Marxist theory of the rate of profit can be utilized to propose a new theory of civic trusts decline. It is theorized that the general tendency for the rate of profit to fall, as well as the counter tendencies of increasing the intensity of exploitation of the working class, the depression of wages, a situation of relative overpopulation, and domestic market expansion, leads to the decline of civic trust both directly and indirectly. In this process institutional degradation and social capitals decline work as intervening variables in this process, as their degradation is also triggered by the tendencies listed above. Further, it is argued that the counter tendencies of the use of credit, the cheapening of elements of constant capital, and international market expansion can actually help to rebuild some level of trust, as they increase the rate of profit without substantially burdening the domestic working class.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Masters

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Political Science

Grantor dc:publisher

Colorado State University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Authors dc:creator

• Dunnington, Keegan, author
• Çavdar, Gamze, advisor
• MacDonald, Bradley J., committee member
• Vasudevan, Ramaa, committee member

• decline of trust
• the falling rate of profit
• trust in politics
• Marxist analysis
• civic trust
• the rate of profit

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright and other restrictions may apply. User is responsible for compliance with all applicable laws. For information about copyright law, please see https://libguides.colostate.edu/copyright.

Language dc:language.iso

eng, English

Identifier URI

https://doi.org/10.25675/3.02520

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:mountainscholar.org:10217/240992