Political science students face anti-politician stigma as trust in government decreases

Students who study political science are bracing themselves to enter a hostile environment. This is because many people have become more skeptical about elected officials during the past couple of decades.

Public trust in politicians has gone down as only two out of 10 Americans say they trust the government, according to a Pew Research study. This makes pursuing a career in politics for students a bigger challenge.

“I face backlash for even being a political science major,” said Marco Florez, a political science major.

Florez also forms a part of Associated Students Inc. (ASI) currently serving as a senator.

Not everyone in ASI is a political science major, including Karen Carrillo, the current ASI president.

What everyone in the student body government does know, regardless of their major, is how difficult it can be for students seeking a position in office when there is anti-politician sentiment.

“Obviously, you want people to trust you. If there’s prior people in government who aren’t doing a good job and are tainting that image, then it is a little bit more hard for them,” Carrillo said.

Lisa Bryant, a political science professor at Fresno State, said building trust requires more doing than saying.

“There’s not really a good way to convince people just by telling them like, ‘I’m going to be trustworthy.’ I think people have to see that you are trustworthy through your actions,” Bryant said.

Receiving backlash from the public is part of the norm of being a government official at any level.

Florez already receives it for working in ASI.

“As a senator, it’s tough facing that backlash because you could be doing something really good and there’s somebody that’s going to have a negative outlook of that, and that’s fair because I take that negative outlook and then I reform myself on how I can do better,” Florez said.

For him, the best way to counter negative feedback is by staying informed.

“If I’m not well-informed, I can’t help other people out who don’t necessarily know a position on a topic, because then I can come in and be the middle ground of creating that bridge of information,” Florez said.