Perceptions of the U.S. Justice System
Opinion
Comparison of Confidence Levels Between Actual Levels of Knowledge
Now that we have looked at the overall confidence levels people have in
various institutions and professions and have compared them to previous findings, we will
discuss how levels of actual knowledge and active experiences with the justice system may
influence confidence levels.
As one would hope, those who are more knowledgeable about the justice
system have significantly higher levels of confidence in the U.S. justice system. Those
people are also more confident in the various components of the justice system, with the
exception of the executive branches of both federal and state governments, the state
legislatures, the prison system, and the U.S. Congress. Another important finding is that,
among the justice system components, confidence in the legal profession and lawyers is
rated the lowest by those with the highest and middle levels of actual knowledge, though
even among those with less knowledge, confidence is very low (19%).
Top-2-Box: Extremely/Very Confident
| |
Actual Levels
of Knowledge |
| |
High |
Medium |
Low |
| Base: |
(260) |
(504) |
(236) |
|
% |
% |
% |
| |
A |
B |
C |
| U.S. Supreme Court |
65 BC |
45 |
42 |
|
|
|
|
| Medical Profession/Doctors |
57 BC |
40 |
46 |
|
|
|
|
| The Local Police |
56 BC |
46 c |
39 |
|
|
|
|
| Accounting Profession/Accountants |
51 BC |
39 C |
25 |
|
|
|
|
| Federal Courts other than U.S. Supreme Court |
48 BC |
31 c |
24 |
|
|
|
|
| Organized Religion |
39 |
38 |
34 |
|
|
|
|
| Judiciary/Judges |
39 BC |
30 |
29 |
|
|
|
|
| U.S. Justice System in General |
39 BC |
26 |
28 |
|
|
|
|
| State and Local Courts |
37 BC |
25 |
23 |
|
|
|
|
| The Executive Branch of the Federal Government
– Office of the President;
Departments of Commerce, Defense, etc. |
28 b |
22 |
34 B |
|
|
|
|
| The Executive Branches of State/Local Government
– Office of Governors, Mayors,
Etc. |
28 |
23 |
24 |
|
|
|
|
| The Public Schools |
26 |
24 |
33 aB |
|
|
|
|
| The State Legislatures |
21 b |
16 |
23 B |
|
|
|
|
| Your State's Prison System |
20 |
17 |
20 |
|
|
|
|
| U.S. Congress |
19 |
15 |
23 B |
|
|
|
|
| The Legal Profession/Lawyers |
12 |
12 |
19 AB |
|
|
|
|
| The Media |
10 B |
5 |
12 B |
Note: Question was answered on a 5-point scale; Extremely Confident to Not At All
Confident. Scores reported are top-2-box: Extremely/Very Confident
Capital letter indicates significant difference at the 95% confidence
level; lower case letter indicates significant difference at the 90% confidence level.
Table of Contents | Next
Survey and report prepared by M/A/R/C� Research.