Can Trust in American Democracy Be Restored?

There is a documented growing lack of trust in our government, a representative democracy, precipitated by a myriad of convoluted issues. Fortunately, there still is a general acceptance of perceived political wrongdoings because Americans are patriotic and believe their democratic government is the best in the world. The general consensus is that this is the best we can do given the characteristics of human nature and the complexity/inertia of our political system. An unfortunate aspect of this growing lack of trust is the awareness by our young people, who desperately need to believe in their country’s leaders, that they do the right things for the right reasons.