Congress and the Decline of Public Trust

Joseph Cooper is professor of political science at Johns Hopkins University and served as the University's Provost from 1991-1996. He has previously taught at Rice University, Stanford University, and Harvard University. He has held fellowships from the Brookings Institution and the National Endowment for the Humanities and has testified before congressional committees numerous times on issues relating to American political institutions.

• 1 The Puzzle of Distrust, 2 Insiders with a Crisis from Outside: Congress and the Public Trust, 3 Appreciating Congress, 4 Congress and Public Trust: Is Congress Its Own Worst Enemy?, 5 How Good People Make Bad Collectives: A Social-Psychological Perspective on Public Attitudes Toward Congress, 6 Congress, Public Trust, and Education, 7 Performance and Expectations in American Politics: The Problem of Distrust in Congress, Epilogue: The Clinton Impeachment Controversy and Public Trust