Many of America’s social institutions have less of the public’s confidence in 2008 than they did in 2000, says a poll by the General Social Survey.

According to the survey, 52 percent of Americans had a great deal of confidence in the people running the military in 2008, up from 41 percent in 2000.

Of the 13 institutions in the poll, the military was one of two that increased that level of confidence in their leadership from the year 2000, education having a 2 percent increase.

Public skepticism overreached the boundaries of left-right politics. Leaders of the scientific community and organized religion, major companies and organized labor alike all saw decreases.

Those polled also had more confidence in the Supreme Court than Congress or the executive branch.

That’s ridiculous. Supreme Court justices are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. Why do people have more confidence in them than in the politicians who selected and approved them?

The electorate didn’t vote in Chief Justice John Roberts; they voted in former President George W. Bush, who nominated Roberts.

And while the military should be respected for choosing to endanger their lives to protect others, it is dangerous to put blind faith in the leaders of any institution.

It’s especially dangerous to put blind faith in leaders that are not chosen by the public, even more so when they’re the most powerful military on earth.

The poll doesn’t necessarily demonstrate that Americans are clamoring for a military coup.

But it is insane to put more faith in the leaders of the military than the people who give them funding and send them to war. Generals don’t decide when the military goes to war, or when they pull out of Iraq.

This high level of confidence is most likely the error of the poll’s writers. Confidence in the military is patriotic, and only 11 percent of Americans in 2008 said they had hardly any confidence in military leadership.

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, advises President Obama, not the other way around. The poll shows lower confidence in the people running the executive branch, but the president is the highest military authority in the country: commander-in-chief.

Ideally, generals are not predisposed to be anymore competent than senators. If they are, that’s America’s fault.

Most elected officials in the federal government endure scrutiny from the press, the public and each other before they ever hold office. If anything, elected officials should be the most competent people in America.

If Americans keep voting for people they don’t have confidence in, they have only democracy to blame, and maybe they should advocate for military rule.

Just don’t expect to see the 11 percent of Americans with hardly any confidence in military leaders ever again.

Chris thinks putting more confidence in bank CEOs than editorial boards is wrong. Let him know what you think at cogino@asu.edu.