Over four in five Latinos (84%) believe that politicians don't care about what they think, according to a new survey by the Pew Research Center.
The figure is in line with what other demographics answered and the country average (85%). Overall more than 80% of all groups of respondents, including by gender, age, political affiliation and level of political engagement gave this answer.
It is also higher than an international median among 24 countries, which clocked in at 74%, the pollster noted. Among the potential reasons for this are a broad distrust in the political system and "questions over whose interests it's serving."
"For example, only 4% of Americans think the political system is working extremely or very well today, and an equally tiny share have a lot of confidence in its future. Americans have long felt "frustrated" toward the federal government, and just 16% trust the government to do the right thing most or just about all of the time," Pew explained.
The feeling is not new. The share of Americans saying they either feel frustrated or angry with the federal government has been above 75% since September 2010, the only yearly exception being in April 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic, when the figure was 69%.
In another passage of the report, Pew said that 70% of Americans say "ordinary people have too little influence over the decisions members of Congress make," and that large employers in their districts, as well as lobbyists, special interest groups and wealthy donors have too much influence.
Looking at why people believe politicians got into the sector, almost two in three (63%) said most or all did so to make money, with only 15% saying they want to serve the public. "A large majority of Americans (85%) say that the cost of political campaigns can make it hard for good people to run for office," it concluded.
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