Why Cox says trust in government is falling

SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said government failures and dysfunction have led to falling trust in institutions, and he said Utah Republicans risk “not listening to people” in light of a recent court ruling telling state lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries.

The Republican governor appeared alongside his counterpart, Maryland Democratic Gov. Wes Moore, at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., in a discussion about the importance of bipartisanship. Asked if he believes democratic institutions are holding amid an onslaught of partisan anger, Cox said yes, but added: “I think they’re more fragile than ever.”

While he said it’s easy and natural to look at the world with recency bias and assume things are worse than they’ve ever been — he noted the U.S. “literally had a Civil War” — Cox said trust in government has declined “precipitously” around the globe, including in the U.S. He cited the Edelmen Trust Barometer’s definition of trust, which says “trust must be built through both competence and ethics.”

“Why are people losing trust?” Cox asked. “One: Are we acting ethically as elected officials? And two — and I believe this is a huge one — it is the competency piece, and that is we’re not doing what government was intended to do. When Congress is broken and floundering and nothing gets done and it takes me 15 years to get a permit to build a transmission line across the state of Utah, for one example, then I’m going to lose trust and faith in government.”

Toward the end of the discussion, Cox was asked about gerrymandering in light of a recent Utah court ruling telling state lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional maps ahead of next year’s midterm elections. The judge said lawmakers unconstitutionally altered a citizens’ ballot initiative creating an independent redistricting commission to draw political boundaries, and told the Utah Legislature to go back to the drawing board.

Cox said at the time he respected the ruling but disagreed with the decision, along with a Utah Supreme Court decision that preceded it last year.

Redistricting has been a national topic of interest after Texas Republicans took the rare step of approving new maps in between the traditional 10-year cycle in order to bolster Republicans’ chances at holding the House in next year’s midterms. Blue states like California and New York have said they may follow suit by trying to redraw their maps to favor Democrats.

“I hate gerrymandering,” Cox said Thursday. “I especially hate doing it twice in 10 years. … The problem is always kind of in the eye of the beholder.”

The governor appeared to understand why so many Utahns were angry about the initiative being overturned. Although he signed the bill enacting it, he noted that the Legislature drew the current map, but said he has told lawmakers in conversation that “just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

“I will say we risk, as the Republican Party in Utah, not listening to people,” Cox said. “That’s why this has gotten them so fired up is because they did run an initiative, and they felt like they’re being ignored. And there is nothing in the history of our country that makes people angrier, that makes them lose trust than when they feel like government is not being responsive to them.

“I would say that extends well beyond the state of Utah and well beyond the redistricting issue, and it really extends to the moment that we find ourselves in now.”

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