The Harris Interactive survey, conducted annually for 39 years, measures public confidence in the leaders of a range of U.S. institutions. While confidence in major corporations rose in last year's poll, that confidence seems to have evaporated over the last year, falling to 13 percent from 17 percent, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal today.
This year's poll shows that public opinion in White House leadership also has fallen, with only a quarter of those responding saying they have "a great deal of confidence" in the White House, down from 31 percent a year earlier. The percentage saying they have a great deal of confidence in Congress also waned, falling to 10 percent from 16 percent last year. And while the poll indicates a small boost in confidence in the press, it remains low, at 14 percent.
Despite the dip in confidence overall, several institutions received increases in confidence from a year ago, including the Supreme Court (33 percent), small business (45 percent) and major educational institutions (38 percent). The military received the highest confidence rating (47 percent) in the poll, unchanged from the year before.