fb-pixelURI poll finds low levels of trust in all levels of government Skip to main content
RI POLITICS

URI poll finds low levels of trust in all levels of government

The new poll also finds 27 percent approve and 27 percent disapprove of Governor Daniel McKee’s job performance.

The University of Rhode Island conducted a poll gauging public opinion on public education, trust in government and elections, and political media consumption.Handout

PROVIDENCE — A new University of Rhode Island poll shows alarmingly low levels of trust in all levels of government.

Just 10 percent of Rhode Islanders said they have “a great deal” or “a lot” of trust in the federal government, compared to 11 percent in state government, and 14 percent in local government, according to the poll released Thursday.

But the poll found that 51 percent have a “great deal” or a “moderate amount” of trust that elections in Rhode Island are fair.

The poll also found that 27 percent of Rhode Islanders approve of how Governor Daniel J. McKee is handling his job, while 27 percent disapprove, and 45 percent neither approve nor disapprove, or don’t know. And it found that just 17 percent of residents could correctly identify the political office held by House Speaker K. Joseph Shekarchi, a Warwick Democrat.

Advertisement



The poll is the first from the Rhode Island Survey Initiative, a newly launched effort by a team of URI researchers to gauge public opinion across the state.

URI said it aims to “fill a gap in statewide polling by creating consistent, wide-ranging opinion surveys focused on Rhode Island.” Researchers plan to issue one poll each year, surveying a wide range of issues impacting life in the state.

“This initiative grew out of a lack of regular opinion polling specific to Rhode Island and the issues that most impact the state,” said Ammina Kothari, director of URI’s Harrington School of Communication and Media, and professor of journalism. “Funding interdisciplinary initiatives with empirical outputs that can be integrated into our teaching and shared with the wider community is a good use of our resources. We hope the survey data will be a tool for other researchers, policymakers, the media, and others interested in understanding where Rhode Islanders stand on key issues.”

Advertisement



Researchers surveyed via the internet a representative sample of 500 Rhode Islanders ages 18 and older between Aug. 17 and Sept. 6. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

Faculty and students from URI identified the survey’s issue areas, formulated questions, and analyzed the results. The poll was administered by YouGov, an international internet-based market research and data analytics firm.

The poll probed public attitudes toward public education, finding that 68 percent favor increasing state or local funding levels for K-12 education. According to the poll, 42 percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied with their community’s K-12 schools, while 21 percent said they were not very or not at all satisfied.

The poll gauged public opinion on specific pieces of legislation related to education that have been introduced in the General Assembly.

For example, it found 72 percent support a state constitutional amendment “that guarantees a fundamental right to education in Rhode Island.” It found that 68 percent support requiring that free lunches be provided for all K-12 students attending public schools. And it found that 38 percent support establishing public school sex education that is inclusive of LGBTQ topics for 6th through 12th graders.

Most Rhode Islanders favor increased state-level spending on education, housing, infrastructure, and aid to the poor. And 73 percent said it was important for Rhode Island to invest in blue economy initiatives such as offshore wind farms and other economic sectors linked to the ocean or coasts.

Advertisement



When asked whether Rhode Island government is doing too much or too little to address climate change, 39 percent said “too little,” 14 percent said “too much,” and 26 percent said “about enough,” while 22 percent didn’t know.

When asked about abortion, 43 percent said it should be “legal under any circumstances,” 43 percent said “legal under only certain circumstances,” and 7 percent said “illegal under all circumstances.”

When asked about Rhode Island’s economy, 2 percent it was “very strong,” and 15 percent said it was “somewhat strong,” while 29 percent said “somewhat weak,” and 20 percent said “very weak.” Another 34 percent said it was neither strong nor weak.

The poll also asked about media and politics, finding that 58 percent had at least a moderate amount of trust in traditional media outlets, while 31 percent trust the news they get on social media. The poll found 69 percent get their election news from local sources, 66 percent use national sources, and 26 percent use international sources.


Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.