| Percent saying "great deal" or "quite a lot" of confidence | |||||||||||||||
| Institution | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 3/91 | 10/91 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | |
| Military | 53 | 58 | 61 | 63 | 61 | 58 | 63 | 68 | 85 | 69 | 68 | 64 | 64 | 66 | |
| Police | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 52 | 54 | 58 | 60 | |
| Church/religion | 62 | 64 | 66 | 57 | 61 | 59 | 52 | 56 | 59 | 56 | 53 | 54 | 57 | 57 | |
| Sup. Court | 42 | 51 | 56 | 54 | 52 | 56 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 39 | 44 | 42 | 44 | 45 | |
| Banks | 51 | 51 | 51 | 49 | 51 | 49 | 42 | 36 | 32 | 30 | 37 | 35 | 43 | 44 | |
| Medical | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 34 | 36 | 41 | 42 | |
| Presidency | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 72 | 50 | 43 | 38 | 45 | 39 | |
| Public schools | 39 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 49 | 43 | 45 | 44 | 35 | 39 | 34 | 40 | 38 | |
| TV news | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 46 | 35 | 33 | 36 | |
| Newspapers | 38 | 34 | 35 | 37 | 31 | 35 | - | 39 | 32 | 32 | 31 | 29 | 30 | 32 | |
| Labor | 26 | 30 | 28 | 29 | 26 | 26 | - | 27 | 25 | 22 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 25 | |
| Big business | 26 | 29 | 31 | 28 | - | 25 | - | 25 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 26 | 21 | 24 | |
| Congress | 28 | 29 | 31 | 28 | - | 25 | - | 25 | 26 | 22 | 22 | 26 | 21 | 20 | |
| Justice system | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 17 | 15 | 20 | 19 | |
- =Not asked