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Table 29  Public's level of confidence in various institutions: 1996 and 1998

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
                                     |       Percent of respondents by      |       Percent of respondents by
                                     |         levels of confidence, 1996   |         levels of confidence, 1998
                                     |______________________________________|______________________________________
             Institution             |A great| Quite |      | Very  |  No   |A great| Quite |      | Very  |  No
                                     | deal  | a lot | Some |little |opinion| deal  | a lot | Some |little |opinion
_____________________________________|_______|_______|______|_______|_______|_______|_______|______|_______|_______
                  1                  |   2   |   3   |  4   |   5   |   6   |   7   |   8   |  9   |  10   |  11
_____________________________________|_______|_______|______|_______|_______|_______|_______|______|_______|_______
Private higher education ............|  18.3 |  38.7 | 28.3 |   7.5 |   7.1 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Small businesses ....................|  15.3 |  40.8 | 32.6 |   7.6 |   3.6 |  25.0 |  31.0 | 34.0 |   9.0 |   1.0
Religious organizations .............|  23.6 |  31.1 | 31.3 |  12.3 |   1.7 |  34.0 |  25.0 | 26.0 |  12.0 |   2.0
The military ........................|  16.9 |  37.0 | 31.0 |  12.1 |   3.1 |  33.0 |  31.0 | 25.0 |   8.0 |   2.0
Public higher education .............|  15.0 |  36.4 | 34.2 |  11.6 |   2.8 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
                                     |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
Private elementary or secondary      |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  education .........................|  15.1 |  35.3 | 33.4 |   9.7 |   6.5 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Youth development and recreation ....|  14.8 |  35.2 | 32.7 |  11.6 |   5.7 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Public elementary or secondary       |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  education .........................|  13.3 |  31.7 | 37.2 |  15.3 |   2.4 |  16.0 |  21.0 | 40.0 |  20.0 |   1.0
Health organizations ................|  10.8 |  28.2 | 42.0 |  15.9 |   3.1 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Federated charitable appeals,        |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  e.g., United Way ..................|  12.6 |  26.3 | 34.9 |  21.6 |   4.5 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
                                     |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
Human services organizations ........|   9.1 |  28.1 | 42.6 |  15.1 |   5.0 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Arts, culture, and humanities        |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  organizations .....................|   9.3 |  26.7 | 39.8 |  14.3 |   9.9 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Recreation for adults ...............|   7.8 |  27.5 | 41.9 |  13.4 |   9.4 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Environmental organizations .........|   9.4 |  23.1 | 41.0 |  20.3 |   6.2 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Private and community foundations ...|   7.6 |  24.0 | 42.3 |  13.5 |  12.6 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
                                     |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
Local government ....................|   5.4 |  25.9 | 43.3 |  23.1 |   2.3 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Public/society benefit, e.g., civil  |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  rights, social justice, community  |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  improvement organizations .........|   7.5 |  22.7 | 43.4 |  20.8 |   5.6 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Media, e.g., newspapers, T.V.,       |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  radio .............................|   6.3 |  22.7 | 39.5 |  29.7 |   1.8 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Television news .....................|   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   --- |  15.0 |  19.0 | 40.0 |  24.0 |   1.0
Work-related organizations ..........|   6.1 |  21.5 | 47.2 |  17.4 |   7.9 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
State government ....................|   4.1 |  22.2 | 44.9 |  26.4 |   2.5 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
                                     |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
International/foreign, e.g.,         |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  culture exchange, relief           |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  organizations  ....................|   6.3 |  19.1 | 37.5 |  24.2 |  12.8 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Organized labor .....................|   6.6 |  17.7 | 40.9 |  29.3 |   5.6 |  11.0 |  15.0 | 45.0 |  22.0 |   5.0
Major corporations ..................|   4.9 |  18.7 | 44.2 |  27.4 |   4.8 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Federal government ..................|   5.2 |  17.5 | 43.9 |  31.1 |   2.2 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
Organizations that advocate a        |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
  particular cause ..................|   4.0 |  15.7 | 42.7 |  29.5 |   8.1 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
                                     |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
Congress ............................|   3.4 |  12.4 | 41.7 |  39.0 |   3.5 |  10.0 |  18.0 | 48.0 |  20.0 |   2.0
Political organizations, e.g.,       |       |       |      |       |       |       |       |      |       |
   Republican or Democratic parties .|   3.8 |  10.8 | 39.2 |  42.6 |   3.7 |   --- |   --- |  --- |   --- |   ---
_____________________________________|_______|_______|______|_______|_______|_______|_______|______|_______|_______

---Data not available.

NOTE.--Institutions are listed in rank order as determined by the combined responses of "a great deal" and "quite a lot" of confidence for 1996.

SOURCE: Independent Sector, The Gallup Organization, Giving and Volunteering in the United States, 1996 and 1998. (This table was prepared September 1998.)

National Center for Education Statistics - http://nces.ed.gov
U.S. Department of Education