American Attitudes About Government and Politics Practice Test

High external efficacy, because trusting the military more than Congress indicates citizens believe elected officials are highly responsive to voters.

Differential trust across institutions, with consistently lower confidence in Congress than in the military or judiciary in many surveys.

Higher trust in legislative institutions than others, showing Congress is viewed as more competent and less partisan than courts or military.

A decline in internal efficacy, because differences in institutional trust primarily measure citizens’ inability to understand politics and policy.

Uniform institutional trust, indicating Americans evaluate all branches and institutions similarly regardless of performance, visibility, or partisanship.