Perceptions of the U.S. Justice System
Opinion
Comparison of Confidence Levels in Current and Previous Study

An assessment of confidence levels in these same categories and professions was previously done twenty years ago in a study by Yankelovich (1978). Although the methodology was different (in-person interviews versus telephone interviews), the sample is comparable (general population) and the question was worded the same. Additionally, the institutions, for the most part, remained the same. The current study included some additional professions:

• the U.S. justice system in general
• the accounting profession/accountants
• the judiciary/judges
• the legal profession/ lawyers

The Yankelovich study had also asked about confidence in American business and organized labor, which were not included in the current study.

Changes in perceptions are evident. The level of confidence in the U.S. Supreme Court has improved since 1978, as has the level of confidence in the local police, federal courts (besides the U.S. Supreme Court), and state and local courts. On the other hand, the public has significantly lower confidence in doctors, organized religion, public schools, U.S. Congress, and most notably, the media (29% down to 8%).

	Extremely/Very Confident
	Yankelovich (1978)		MARC (1998)
	(1931) % A		(1000) % B
U.S. Supreme Court	36		50	A
The Local Police	40		47	A
Medical Profession/Doctors	50	B	46
Accounting Profession/Accountants	NA		39
Organized Religion	41	B	37
Federal Courts other than U.S. Supreme Court	29		34	A
Judiciary/Judges	NA		32
U.S. Justice System in General	NA		30
State and Local Courts	23		28	A
The Public Schools	37	B	27
The Executive Branch of the Federal Government – Office of the President; Departments of Commerce, Defense, etc.	27		26
The Executive Branches of State/Local Government – Office of Governors, Mayors, Etc.	21		24	a
The State Legislatures	21		19
Your State's Prison System	17		19
U.S. Congress	23	B	18
The Legal Profession/Lawyers	NA		14
The Media	29	B	8

Capital letter indicates significant difference at the 95% confidence level; lower case letter indicates significant difference at the 90% confidence level.

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Survey and report prepared by M/A/R/C� Research.