Gallup just released an annual poll it conducts measuring the level of confidence that Americans have in fourteen major institutions. Aggregated across all institutions, it found that only 33% of Americans have either a “great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence. While this sounds low, the highest this aggregate ever reached since the poll began in 1993 was 43%, and that was immediately following the terror attacks on September 11, 2001 when there was a powerful unifying effect among Americans. Since 2006, the number as hovered in the mid- to lower-30s.

When breaking out the aggregate, however, there is a substantial difference among the various institutions that are included in the poll. The bar graph below breaks down the specifics for each.

Among the respondents, these numbers can be refined even further. Gallup did this by asking respondents about their political affiliation, which has become the dominant way that Americans have come to identify themselves.

There are several ways to interpret this data, but one that I have not seen in the articles about it deals with a bedrock aspect of trust: relationships. The breakdown of who tends to trust which institution the most is very likely to what groups are more likely to have relationships with people who participate in the various institutions being rated.

While the data does not provide this information, it seems likely that Republican leaning respondents know more individuals who are in the police, the church, the military, and small businesses. This is partly because of demographics, with more rank-and-file Republicans tending to be rural with fewer job opportunities and less formal education, so law enforcement, the military, and small businesses would be more likely job prospects and the church would be a more powerful center of cultural life. It is likely also because of more shared values, such as more conservative political views aligning with at least more conservative Christian beliefs.

Likewise, Democrats, who tend to live in more urban areas and have higher levels of education, are more likely to know people in healthcare, media outlets, upper levels of organized labor, and education. The current elected officials in Congress and the presidency also make it more likely that Democrats either have, or feel like they have, more of a relationship with the people in the national government.

Noticeably, the four institutions where there is virtually no difference (SCOTUS, big business, banks, and the criminal justice system), represent enormous institutions that all people are affected by and that offer about an equal opportunity for each group to relate to people who work in them. Small towns and cities alike have large chain retail stores, banks, and some sort of court system. SCOTUS is likely equally inaccessible to almost all people.

…the takeaway is not that institutions need to begin high-level marketing to try and sway people’s opinions of them, but that they should focus on building individual relationships.

Given this focus on relationships, the takeaway is not that institutions need to begin high-level marketing to try and sway people’s opinions of them, but that they should focus on building individual relationships. This data should encourage individuals who work in or with the big institutions to build relationships with other people regardless of their political affiliation. It is through these relationships that trust will be built. Respondents will no longer say, “Here’s what I think about this abstract idea of an institution,” but “Here’s what I think about the place that Anna or Bob works.” The relationship will change the dynamic because the respondent will know that it is not just a faceless institution, but a place where trustworthy people are doing their best.

This should not be news to the church. The focus of evangelism literature over the past five years has been increasingly on the need to build relationships rather than try to market the church through major events. In the current culture, Christians are much more likely to build trust with others if they are out, meeting people in their daily lives and working for the public good than if they are primarily holding big Christian activities and inviting people to come to them. The activities can happen, but only as a follow on to the Christians meeting people on their terms in their spaces.

The confidence in overall institutions, including the church, may be low, but the willingness of people to trust each other individually remains.