It is not really historians and it does not really push the narrative of government "given up on citizens as reaction to them not trusting government".
Government and citizens are not even two super distinct entities, government are citizens and is put in place by citizens.
Generally one side of America so gave up on government that a guiding principal of ‘starve the beast’ (that has done so much damage to our young) became dominant.
Once people with that world view actually enter government, they don’t have a lot of desire to use government for what it could be used for in terms of helping citizens instead of consolidating powers as a function of lobbying dollars.
Government and citizens are not even two super distinct entities, government are citizens and is put in place by citizens.