Many Minnesotans—especially White & Indigenous Minnesotans—lack trust in state government

Democrats and supporters of Gov. Tim Walz stand and applaud while republicans stay seated during his State of the State speech inside the House Chambers of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, April 3, 2019. Evan Frost | MPR News.

by CRAIG HELMSTETTER | Feb. 7, 2022

At just over a week into of Minnesota’s legislative session, legislators and Governor Walz have much work ahead of them—in both lawmaking and, as it turns out, in restoring trust.

Our recent Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey finds that only 48% of Minnesotans trust state government to do what is right in most cases. That is less trust than Minnesotans expressed in the medical system, the police and the public schools. And just as low as the much-maligned news media.

The good news for those working at the state capitol: The current low level of trust is actually up somewhat compared with a similar survey that we conducted four years ago. The 2017 Ground Level Survey found that only 40% of Minnesotans trusted the state government to do what is right either “just about always” or “most of the time.”

The 2017 survey found that BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) and White Minnesotans had virtually identical levels of trust in state government. Four years later, levels of trust have risen significantly among BIPOC Minnesotans, rising from 41% in 2017 to 54% in 2021 saying they trusted state government in St. Paul to do what is right either “just about always” or “most of the time.”

Although we did not ask respondents to explain their reasons for trusting or mistrusting state government, it might have something to do with an increase in representation. According to data assembled by Minnesota Compass, only 3% of the state’s “government leaders and legislators” identified as BIPOC in the late 2000s, whereas that proportion had risen to 16% by the late 2010’s. And according to the National Conference of State Legislators, 90% of the state’s lawmakers identified as White in 2020, down from 95% in 2015.

Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey: Trust in the police

The 2021 survey provides much more detail by race and ethnicity, showing that Hmong, Latinx and especially Asian Minnesotans who do not identity as Hmong indicate higher levels of trust in state government than is the case for Black, Indigenous and White Minnesotans.

Notably, trust appears lowest among White and Indigenous Minnesotans, with 13% and 17% respectively indicating they “never” trust state government to do what is right.

As in 2017 we see that a higher proportion of Democrats than Republicans trust the state government in St. Paul. Levels of trust are stagnant among Republicans and have fallen among Independents, but they have risen among Democrats. The rise in trust in state government among Democrats is perhaps not surprising given that their party flipped control of the state House from Republicans in the 2018 elections. The governor’s office was held by a Democrat in both 2017 (Mark Dayton) and 2021 (Tim Walz).

Interestingly, while BIPOC Minnesotans overall have higher levels of trust in state government than do White Minnesotans, this is not the case once we control for party affiliation. Most BIPOC Minnesotans are either Democrats or lean toward the DFL party (75% compared to 51% of White Minnesotans). When we compare the trust levels of Democrats by race, we see that 68% of White Democrats trust the state government to do what is right either just about always or most of the time, notably higher than the 56% among BIPOC Democrats.

Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey: Trust in the state’s K-12 public schools

While Minnesotans trust in state government is low, it is not nearly as low as the American public’s trust in the U.S. government: According to a Pew Research’s survey conducted in April 2021 (the same time as when we fielded the Minnesota’s Diverse Communities Survey), for example, only 24% of American adults trust the government just about always or most of the time.

Still, even with a level of trust in state government that is nearly twice as high as the nation’s trust in the federal government, much room for improvement remains. Only time will tell if Minnesota’s newly convened legislative session—not to mention the upcoming 2022 elections, which will include the entire state House and Senate, as well as the Governor and other state-wide offices—will continue to inch the state’s residents toward higher levels of trust in the state’s government.