Why has confidence in the impartiality of the Supreme Court tumbled to 44%? Why not? Confidence in every American institution has corroded, even the military. When American society functions well, confidence rises, as it did in the 1980s and again in the mid-1990s. When society functions poorly, doubts spread. Nor are those doubts misplaced.
Over the past dozen years, the important institutions of American life have delivered worse and worse results: wars not won, financial systems not appropriately regulated, economic growth whose benefits weren't widely shared, a savage recession, a feeble recovery. You can add to the list pretty easily. The key to restoring confidence? Improving outcomes!
