Less Than 50 Percent of Americans Trust the Government to Do its Job

Less than 50 percent of Americans trust the government to handle international and domestic problems, according to a new Gallup poll. The country's trust in the government's capabilities has reached record lows -- only 49 percent of those surveyed trusted the government's ability to solve international problems, while just 42 percent trusted the government to fix domestic issues. 

On the international side, Syria most likely played a role in the sharp drop in trust. Last month 66 percent of Americans had faith in our leaders' ability to handle political matters. The drop on the domestic side wasn't as bad -- from 51 to 42 percent -- and may, according to Gallup, be the result of the poor economy and low confidence in Congress. 

In general, America's faith in its government has been declining. Under President Obama, a September 2011 CNN/ORC poll conducted during his first term found that "only 15 percent of Americans say they trust the government in Washington to do what's right just about always or most of the time," down from 25 percent the year before. A June 2013 Rasmussen Reports poll found that 24 percent of likely voters trusted the government to do the right thing most or all of the time. 

Read more on The Atlantic Wire.