Declining faith in religion has historically followed increased understanding of the nature of the world. Declining faith in government, its agents, and various others may similarly be the result of increased understanding or, more likely, increased knowledge of the nature of government. For a trivial example, the kinds of information we had about President Bill Clinton went far beyond what was popularly known about any previous president, including some whose actions as president were arguably more scurrilous than Clinton's. The knowledge we have about many governmental actions is also astonishing in comparison with past times. The civil rights movement may well have been so successful largely because of instant television coverage of the brutality and stupidity of many southern officials (Garrow 1978). The White House tapes drove Richard Nixon out of office when mere testimony probably could not have done so.

XREF: Connects to broader theme of knowledge undermining trust, echoing shifts in religious belief paralleled by political disillusionment. SEED: Could develop into an essay on how transparency and information abundance reshape public trust in governance.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 733