Conclusions: The Distinctiveness and Relevance of Different Types of Political Confidence

Abstract

Does it pay off to rely on a distinction between confidence in representative and regulative institutions and authorities rather than conflating citizens’ confidence in different institutions and authorities into one single, one-dimensional measure? In the concluding chapter of his book, Schnaudt summarizes the main results of his comprehensive empirical analysis, elaborates on the further implications of his findings and delineates promising perspectives and avenues for future research on political confidence. The author’s main conclusion states that, in comparison to the one-dimensional conception of political confidence as routinely used in most of previous research, the distinction between confidence in representative and regulative institutions and authorities allows for empirically more encompassing and better informed conclusions about the relevance and impact of political confidence in contemporary European democracies. Not only do European citizens distinguish between confidence in representative and regulative institutions and authorities, both types of political confidence also emanate from different sources and origins and imply different consequences. Schnaudt concludes his book with several recommendations for future research on political confidence, paying particular attention to questions of theory development and refinement, measurement, causality, as well as the broader implications and consequences of political confidence for the viability of democracy.