Trust is not something most Americans have in their government these days.

A new USA Today/Bipartisan Policy Center poll found only one in five of those surveyed say they trust the federal government to do what is right most of the time.

When asked whether they see the government as an advocate or an adversary for them and their families, the response was 42% advocate, 38% adversary.

The survey also revealed that Americans by more than 2-1 say the best way to make positive changes in society is through volunteer organizations and charities, not by being active in government.

Additionally, the poll found that the vast majority of Americans have never seriously considered running for public office. The ones who have, based on those surveyed, amount to 14% of the population, totaling about 40 million people.

Americans under the age of 30 are particularly fed up with politics, and are significantly less likely than their parents to say participating in politics is a worthwhile expenditure of their time.

“These two worlds of civic life and of public life used to be almost the same world, but these worlds have clearly separated,” Paul Light, a professor of public service at New York University, told USA Today.

He added that among the students he teaches, he sees “a general sense that politics is for losers, for ne’er-do-wells, for the corrupt and for the under-motivated and greedy.”

-Noel Brinkerhoff

To Learn More:

Poll: Public Service Valued; Politics — Not So Much (by Susan Page, USA Today)

Only 28% of Americans Hold Favorable View of the Federal Government (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)          

For First Time, Most Americans Believe Federal Government Threatens Personal Freedoms (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov) 

Most Americans Like Government; They just don’t Like Who Runs It (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)