Americans’ confidence in the country’s leaders remains below-average for the third consecutive year, according to National Leadership Index (NLI) poll results released by the Centre for Public Leadership (CPL) at Harvard Kennedy School (HKS). Surprisingly, however, Americans’ predominant emotional responses to their leaders’ ability to handle crises are disappointment and hopefulness—not something much worse, such as anger or fear.
After a steep decline in 2008, confidence in America’s leaders has not returned to the “average” levels identified from 2005–07. Belief that we have a “leadership crisis in America” remained high at 68 percent; 71 percent of respondents believe the U.S. will “decline as a nation” without better leadership.
“This survey represents yet another cry from the American public for more effective leadership, not only in politics, but in many other fields,’” said David Gergen, public service professor of public leadership at HKS and director of CPL. “For three straight years, two-thirds or more Americans have said that we have a leadership crisis and a significant majority believe that unless we address this crisis, the country faces a bleak future.”
On a more granular level, only four of the 13 sectors—non-profits & charities, the Supreme Court, and medical and traditionally high-rated military sectors—garnered at or above-average levels of confidence. Leaders of news media, Congress, and Wall Street remained the lowest rated.
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