Amid the familiar lines of political division in America—immigration, abortion, taxes, regulation, and the like—a new divide has emerged over trust in science. Concerns about the politicization of science and the “scientization” of politics can be traced back decades. But more recent trends indicate that we are entering a new era in the politics of science, one that breaks with the past in important ways and demands new kinds of responses.

Survey data show that, in general, public trust in science has fallen recently. Over the last half century, Americans overall have expressed high levels of confidence in science—particularly in comparison with other major societal institutions such as the mainstream media and the federal government, which experienced notable declines in trust during that time. Today, although 76% of the public still expresses a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of confidence in scientists to act in the public’s best interests, according to the Pew Research Center, that number has fallen by 11 percentage points since the pandemic began in 2020. And the decline has been most pronounced among Republicans. Despite a slight rebound in 2024, they remain 22 percentage points less likely than Democrats to express a “great deal” or a “fair amount” of confidence in scientists.

This is a deviation from historical trends.

Read the full essay in Issues in Science and Technology.