Throughout the world, people blamed their governments—more than any other institution—for the financial and political crises they endured in 2011. In 17 of the 25 countries surveyed, government is now trusted by less than half to do what is right. Europe, France, Spain, and Italy saw government trust drop by more than ten points. In Latin America, Brazil experienced a 53-point plunge.  In Asia, South Korea and China suffered declines of 17 and 13 points, respectively.  In Japan, trust in government dropped by 26 points driven by the catastrophic earthquake that struck the country in early spring.

Trust in government held steady in a number of countries. Germany, though well below the midpoint, stayed firm at 33 percent, while India cleared the midway mark (53 percent) for the first time. In the United States, trust remained stable despite all the political discourse. Singapore registered the third-highest government trust level at 73 percent. Trust saw a significant increase in Ireland, where elections brought in a new government.

Richard Edelman explains why government lost trust in 2011.

Klaus Kleinfeld, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Alcoa, tells us “that government can never run a company more efficiently than the private sector.” Mr. Kleinfeld joined Richard Edelman as a panelist at the World Economic Forum’s Edelman Trust Barometer breakfast.