Few people, anywhere, trust their politicians. But this is mainly the fault of the politicians themselves. Where we would expect our leaders to be men and women of principle and good character, they always seem to be caught out in misbehaviour and corruption.
When the majority of the populace distrust the politicians of that country, democracy suffers, because people stop trusting any party and so stop voting because there doesn’t seem to be any point if they are all as bad as each other.
The argument that “they’re still only human” is not acceptable, in my opinion. If you put yourself forward to act as a leader, then you must be expected to set an example of how those that you lead should follow. If the leaders are found, or suspected of being, corrupt, then the populace are therefore justified in acting the same way. If a leader acts badly, then they should be expected to lose their position, for the good of those that follow them, a bad leader means a bad following. If the leaders of the country are seen to be corrupt or misbehaving, then it must only be expected for the rest of society to act similarly.
There is much talk nowadays of us living in a “broken society” and that the people must change, but it was the politicians that broke it in the 80s, 90s and in this decade too. The more we see the politicians and leaders of our country getting caught out cheating, lying, breaking the law, acting selfishly or unethically, then the country follows their lead. Politicians must, by the very definition of their positions, set a good example and be sacked if they do not. In the 80s the government had policies of greed, selfishness and individuality, and so the country followed this behaviour and people stopped caring about others and became only interested in what they could get for themselves and in their own comfort and happiness. These policies were continued in subsequent governments up to and including the present day, and so it is really so surprise that the population continue to break down the society they live in.