A recent survey from the Annenberg Public Policy Center has found that public trust in the United States Supreme Court is on a steady decline, with 56% of Americans having little to no trust that it will act in the interest of the general public.
The annual survey found that as of August 2024, less than half of Americans believe that the Supreme Court can benefit their country. This year's results mark a record low since the survey began in 2005, when APPC recorded that 75% of American voters trusted the Supreme Court.
The partisan split also increased significantly since the survey last took place in May. Responses differed significantly between political parties, with 71% of Republicans having trust while only 24% of Democrats and 41% of independents felt the same.
The surveys are based on two ongoing Annenberg Institutions of Democracy panel studies, which interview the same cohort of voters over a period of time. One survey takes a nationally representative sample of adult U.S. citizens, while the other takes a sample of U.S. citizens living in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
The APPC's new survey aligns with other recent studies on public opinion regarding the Supreme Court. The Pew Research Center, which also conducts an annual study, found that 51% of participants have an unfavorable view of the court. 73% of Republicans held a favorable opinion of the court, along with 24% of Democrats in favor.
In a similar vein, studies from both the Associated Press-NORC and Quinnipiac University found that 70% of Americans believe Supreme Court justices are ideologically or politically influenced.
Both the Pew Research Center and APPC surveys found that faith in the Supreme Court took a significant blow after the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision that overturned Roe v. Wade. APPC observed a decline in approval in the swing states of Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Michigan, largely among Independent and Democratic voters. While the average respondent described themselves as “neither favorable nor unfavorable” of the court in 2021, the APPC found that these respondents have since been “somewhat unfavorable” post-Dobbs.
A recent article in Science Advances authored by six researchers — including Penn political science professor Matthew Levendusky and APPC Director Kathleen Hall Jamieson — linked mainstream media to a decrease in court favorability. According to the researchers' analysis, The New York Times, which holds the most subscribers out of any major news publication, focused 60% of its Supreme Court coverage on abortion in 2021. In comparison, landmark decisions typically occupied 15% to 20% of Supreme Court stories each year prior to 2023.
While the study did not conduct as in-depth of an analysis on other media outlets, coverage of the institution has become increasingly critical in recent years. In 2023, ProPublica released a “Friends of the Court” series that illustrated undisclosed gifts to justices and led to a code of conduct being implemented in the court.
Levendusky, who directed the survey and is the Stephen and Mary Baran Chair in the Institutions of Democracy at the APPC, pointed to Dobbs as a critical factor in public approval.
“For many years, the court was held in high esteem by all Americans across partisan lines, but no more,” Levendusky said in the APPC announcement. “That polarization emerged after Dobbs, and the court’s rulings since then have done little to change these perceptions.”
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