In the Mayor We Trust? Trust as the Micro-Foundation of Complementary Politico-Administrative Relations in Local Governments

Abstract

This article investigates trust between politicians and public officials in local government. Beginning with Svara’s claim that such relations are characterized by complementarity, we point to the importance of trust as the micro foundation for these relationships. Applying a mixed-methods strategy, we investigate a number of factors we expect to be related to the level of trust between politicians and public officials, as perceived by the latter. We find that the communication climate and a clear distribution of tasks correlate positively with trust, whereas an unstable environment correlates negatively with trust.