America’s Crisis of Confidence: Rising Mistrust, Conspiracies, and Vaccine Hesitancy After COVID-19 - The Survey Center on American Life

America is experiencing a crisis of expertise—one that has worsened since the COVID-19 pandemic and shows little sign of abating. A nationally representative survey conducted by the Survey Center on American Life finds that a growing number of Americans are distrustful of scientific and medical experts. This phenomenon cuts across demographic lines but is most acute among Republicans and evangelical Christians. It has implications for a wide range of scientific and medical fields—including climate change, public health, and artificial intelligence (AI)—posing significant challenges to public decision-making and democratic debate.