Understand.
Find out what happened, why it happened, and where America stands now.
Serious analysis without unreadable language.
We need a defensible account of how trust developed in the United States, where it was strongest, what institutions supported it, and which changes weakened it.
The work should use historical records, public data, state comparisons, academic research, government reports, original surveys where useful, and direct interviews with people who operate institutions on the ground.
Plain-language rule: if a finding cannot be explained to an interested voter in a few paragraphs, we have not finished the work.
The questions we want answered.
- When and where did American trust rise, and when did it begin to weaken?
- Which changes were causes of declining trust, and which were merely symptoms?
- Why have some states and communities remained safer, more stable, more competent, or more cohesive than others?
- Which institutions still earn public trust, and what do they do differently?
- Which policies create accountability, stability, competence, and honest dealing?
- Which policies reward disorder, fraud, dependency, incompetence, or institutional failure?
- What can elected leaders actually do within one term to improve the conditions that support trust?
What makes daily life trustworthy?
The American High Trust Study
The flagship study will examine the rise and decline of high trust in the United States: establish a timeline, test competing explanations, identify turning points, and separate causes from symptoms.
Research programA useful picture of every state.
Profiles should answer five questions: how trustworthy is daily life, where is trust strongest and weakest, what is driving the result, which trends are changing, and what actions have the highest leverage?