Restoration Roundtable


America's Crumbling Foundation And The People Who Might Fix It

The young trust the U.N. - more than the U.S.

By Sophie Quinton  //  April 25, 2012 | 3:13 p.m.
A Harvard poll of young Americans released yesterday found that young people, while more confident in the direction of the country than the general population, also lack trust in most American institutions.  

Perhaps the most interesting tidbit: Young people trust the United Nations more than they trust the United States to solve the world's problems. 

"Our findings have consistently shown by wide margins that 18- to 29- year olds strongly prefer the United Nations and other countries take the lead in solving international crises and conflicts," according to the report from the Harvard Institute of Politics. Not only that, the poll found, but young people support the U.N. regardless of whether they're Republicans or Democrats. 

"76 percent of Democrats, 74 percent of Republicans and 75 percent of Independents agree that United States should let other countries and the United Nations take the lead in solving international crises and conflicts," the poll found. Only one-quarter of young Americans believe that the United States should take the lead.

Young people trust the President more than the U.N., the poll found, and they trust U.S. military more than any other institution, with 55 percent of respondents saying they trust the military to do the right thing most or all of the time. But somehow trust for the commander-in-chief and trust in the military doesn't translate into support for the U.S. taking a global leadership role. 

For the executive summary of the poll, click here.


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About Restoration Calls

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, in his first inaugural address, told a country struggling under the weight of the Great Depression that the nation needed to take action to rebuild and rejuvenate itself. He said: "Restoration calls, however, not for changes in ethics alone. This Nation asks for action, and action now." It was a time not unlike our own, where misbehavior on Wall Street fed a widespread credit and confidence crisis that swept like a tornado through the U.S. and global economy. And as in 1933, Washington again faces the time-sensitive task of diagnosing how its institutions are ill-equipped to fix the nation's problems, and then building a new system responsive to America's new needs. This project will tell that story, through the eyes of the Americans affected.

Introduction to this series >>