A Gallup survey finds 75% of Americans have a "fair" amount of trust in their local governments and 65% feel the same about state government. Both of those numbers are dramatic increases from recent years.
Republicans are the most trusting of state government, with 71% expressing confidence in that institution. 65% of independents and 61% of Democrats feel the same.
Americans typically have expressed greater trust in state and local governments than in the federal government. That may be because the federal government is more remote to citizens than their state and local governments. It may also reflect the obviously partisan nature of the federal government, whereas state governments nationwide are divided between Republican and Democratic control, and many local governments are nonpartisan in nature.
Nevertheless, Americans' confidence in the government at all levels is on the upswing, after trust suffered through record lows during the last few years. That has obvious benefits to the working of the political system more generally, as well as possibly to current officeholders who are seeking re-election.
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