>

People often expect too much from politicians.  That ranges from assuming they have powers that they do not in the office they have, or assuming that they have the votes needed to pass legislation to assuming that complex problems have "easy" solutions and so if the politician doesn't solve the complex problem with the "easy" solution the voter has spent 5 minutes thinking about, then something must be wrong with the politician.  
It also comes down to the fact that humans are flawed creatures and all of them make mistakes.  
Also, some of them really are genuinely terrible.  Some actually want terrible things.  Some try to do good but are incompetent.  Some are good at winning elections but bad at writing or passing laws. Some are parts of minority factions who never have any actual power, so gradually learn that all they really are is a type of gadfly.
The OECD publishes data concerning trust of the public in the government in general. Unsurprisingly, trust in government is highest in rich countries with multi-party systems, low corruption and long democratic traditions. It tends to be lower in poorer countries, two-party systems and new(er) democracies or authoritarian states with relatively higher corruption. >

Another thing the higher rated countries have in common are they're small.  The US has so many competing interests that no matter who gets elected and how effectively they govern a good 40% of the country is going to despise the government. >

The countries low on the list are also mostly small. Turns out that the US is pretty large compared to most other countries. >

Look at the bottom 10 and top 10 (granted 11th and 12th highest are "large compared the the 10 that precede then).  None of those top 10 break 10M in population, the bottom 10 have several large countries, and the ones that are small tend to be former soviet states.  Obviously size isn't the only factor at play. But a small population is likely to have common values and a similar view of the role their government should play. >

Well if you say you don't trust the government in China you get reeducated until you do, so I'm not sure I really trust those figures.  None of those 3 are part of the data set I commented on.  Also none of those countries are particularly homogeneous. >


if you say you don't trust the government in China you get reeducated until you do

lol this is total nonsense >

Yeah China is an absolute bastion of freedom of expression such nonsense. >

lot of other gray areas in between "absolute bastion of freedom" and "the state will brainwash you into loving it" >

Sure but China is way closer to the second than the first. >

In Germany, loads of governments have enjoyed a very broad "silent" support, even over the last couple of decades. "Politician" was still a bad word, but up until fairly recently (maybe until the end of Merkel's third administration in 2017), the government was viewed largely positively by a considerable majority of the population, in a way that would feel quite strange to anyone from the US for example (although it's less of a "we love these guys" and more a "we tolerate and appreciate these guys" thing). >

It’s seems like Germany just likes moderates who are competent and they don’t need much else beyond that >

Germans like politicians that work quietly. Angela Merkel was the epitome of this. Like her or not, she never showed any traces of vanity, rarely spoke out loudly and mostly just did her job without trying to impress people or make herself look good in the public eye.
If you watched Game of Thrones, there’s a very fitting quote by Tywin Lannister: Everyone who needs to say that he’s the king is no true king.
Angela Merkel never needed to point out that she’s the chancellor and simultaneously the most powerful woman on earth.