Abstract
Over the past two decades Americans have been losing confidence in a variety of institutions, including business, government, medicine, and education. However, a statistical analysis shows that two-thirds of variance is not due to specific institutional attributes-but shared by all those studied. Also, as expressions of great confidence in institutions decline, the percentages of individuals scoring high on an alienation index, which reflects general rather than specific attitudes towards society and its leaders, increase. Thus, declining confidence is, to a large extent, not institution specific, but reflects disaffection with American society as a whole. Efforts to restore confidence, therefore, must focus on this comprehensive disaffection. They should uproot alienation by encouraging a firm sense of identification with social purposes and a strong commitment to fulfilling them. This dual sense of purpose and commitment will not be effective if it is the product solely of national elites, but will have a comprehensive impact only insofar as it results from widespread individual and group action directed at increasing the overall responsiveness of society to its citizens.
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