Lustration and Trust in Central and East Europe: Assessing the Impact of Lustration on Trust in Public Institutions and National Government

Abstract

Lustration is alternately theorized and anecdotally alleged to either undermine or contribute to the democratic transitions in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) by supporting or undermining trust in public institutions, and by extension trust in national government. Using quantitative data on nine countries in CEE over an eight year time period, this study examines the impact of lustration and transitional justice measures on citizen perceptions of the trustworthiness of public institutions and national government. It tests whether and how the timing of lustration, the severity of lustration, or the packaging of lustration with other forms of transitional justice impact trust in public institutions and national government. This paper finds that even when controlling for economic growth, democratization, and corruption levels, lustration measures consistently and positively contribute to citizen trust in public institutions in CEE. However, lustration and transitional justice measures have an indirect and diluted impact on trust in national government, when they have any impact at all.