Polling shows that since the 1950s Americans' trust in government has fallen dramatically to historically low levels. The political scientists Amy Fried and Douglas B. Harris reveal that this trend is no accident-it is fueled by conservative elites who benefit from it. Americans' trust in government has been plummeting for decades, and not by accident. In this powerful and crucially important book, Amy Fried and Douglas B. Harris show how conservatives, over several decades, strategically cultivated political distrust and built a movement around it. Distrust has now taken on a life of its own, undermining the collective power required to address public problems. As politicians tap it to fuel grievances, it is proving deleterious to democratic governance itself. A must-read for those who seek to rebuild our torn political and social fabric.