When Gallup’s annual survey of American’s confidence in U.S. institutions came out last June, we again noted that only the U.S. military out ranks small business as an “institution” in which Americans have the most confidence. As the U.S. “State of the Nation” is delivered this evening, we thought it is worth reposting this table to remind us that there’s nothing fake about American’s confidence in the businesses they know best. We’ve also added a table that ranks the reasons why survey respondents say they have confidence in small business.

June 2016 June 2017 Change: 2016 to 2017
% %

Percentage point increase
MILITARY
Republicans/leaners 83 82 -1
Democrats/leaners 65 64 -1
 

SMALL BUSINESS
Republicans/leaners 71 73 2
Democrats/leaners 68 67 -1
 

POLICE
Republicans/leaners 68 73 5
Democrats/leaners 48 45 -3
 

CHURCH or ORGANIZED RELIGION
Republicans/leaners 51 52 1
Democrats/leaner 31 34 3
 

U.S. SUPREME COURT
Republicans/leaners 29 40 11
Democrats/leaners 43 43 0
 

MEDICAL SYSTEM
Republicans/leaners 36 33 -3
Democrats/leaners 41 40 -1
 

PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Republicans/leaners 21 30 9
Democrats/leaners 36 41 5
 

PRESIDENCY
Republicans/leaners 14 60 46
Democrats/leaners 59 10 -49
 

BANKS
Republicans/leaners 28 36 8
Democrats/leaners 25 30 5
 

ORGANIZED LABOR
Republicans/leaners 15 17 2
Democrats/leaners 30 37 7
 

CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM
Republicans/leaners 25 29 4
Democrats/leaners 22 27 5
 

NEWSPAPERS
Republicans/leaners 15 12 -3
Democrats/leaners 25 41 16
 

TELEVISION NEWS
Republicans/leaners 14 14 0
Democrats/leaners 27 31 4
 

BIG BUSINESS
Republicans/leaners 22 28 6
Democrats/leaners 15 14 -1
 

INTERNET NEWS
Republicans/leaners n/a 14 n/a
Democrats/leaners n/a 16 n/a
 

CONGRESS
Republicans/leaners 6 14 8
Democrats/leaners 11 11 0
 

GALLUP, JUNE 7-11, 2017

Reasons the survey respondents give for why they have confidence in small business

Based on those who have a great deal/quite a lot of confidence in small business
———-
American dream; backbone of the economy 29%
Personally invested; determined; accountable to customers 28%
Create jobs for local people; community involvement 14%
Respondent or family owns/owned small business 13%
Had positive experience working for small business 7%
Ingenuity; innovation 5%
Trustworthy 2%
Trump’s involvement with 1%
Positive experiences dealing with small businesses 1%
Other 6%
None <1%
No opinion 2%
Percentages total more than 100% due to multiple responses
GALLUP, JULY 5-9, 2017

 

istock

Related Articles