Abstract
This article examines the pattern of popular trust in public and political institutions in Ethiopia. The analysis employs individual-level survey data and uses ordinary least square regression to analyze the relative explanatory power of independent variables for variations in citizens’ institutional trust. The results demonstrate that citizens’ trust in public institutions varies extensively from one public and political institution to another. This article argues that institutional performance is crucial factor in explaining the source of citizens generalized trust in Ethiopia. This article concluded that citizens’ popular trust in Ethiopia is a function of their expectation of the quality of the services offered, as well as their evaluations of government’s efforts to provide services in a fair and equitable manner. Key words: Citizens trust, public and political institutions, Ethiopia.
Highlights
The development of public and political institutionbuilding in Ethiopia was not a linear process
The first finding implies that political trust in different institutions differs substantially among the types of public and political institutions in Ethiopia
These findings suggest that citizens‟ trust in public and political institutions in Ethiopia is much closer to implementing institutions than representational once
Summary
The development of public and political institutionbuilding in Ethiopia was not a linear process. As a result of changes in successive political leaderships in Ethiopia, institutional changes have been very common. In the process the institutional memory has been lost, and institutionalization has always been interrupted as a result of shifts in the power relationships between actors. Time and again, „institutions have been overcast by political control‟ (Bahru, 2000: 21). The three successive regimes that came to power in Ethiopia tried to recast the institutions according to their political interests and dispensation. In their institutional-building schemes, what they have followed in differing degrees is a top-down approach
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