There’s also a good deal of evidence to suggest that these patterns are not unique to America or to government as an institution. Trust in all kinds of institutions, from banks to courts, has declined since the 1950s. Justin Wolfers, an economist and Upshot contributor, described it as a function of what we know now that we didn’t know before: There is increasing transparency across all types of institutions today relative to the 1940s and 1950s, he said in an interview in 2011. That very transparency might be the root of declining trust, he concludes.

If information and knowledge have led people to trust most institutions less than they did in the past, that could also partly explain the growing partisan divide in trust in government. As people trust those institutions less, they probably trust parties less, too, which may make the “other” party seem less trustworthy than it was before.

It is of some concern that trust in government is objectively low. But playing a role in the background is a steady march away from government opaqueness — a longstanding American tradition dating to the candid submission of grievances outlined in the Declaration of Independence.