Partisan Emotions and Government Trust: Taiwan's COVID‐19 Experience

The level of public trust is intricately linked with effectiveness of local governance. The good governance theory stresses that principles of accountability, transparency, and responsiveness impact the government performance. Responsiveness in particular is crucial in building people’s trust in their respective government. The research aims to quantitatively investigate the association of the Perceived Responsiveness and Public Trust in government among the residents of Islamabad. A cross-sectional study design was employed using a structured survey questionnaire. It was distributed in online and physical formats among 373 participants using convenience-based sampling technique. A five-point Likert scale was used to measure the Perceived Responsiveness and Public Trust in government. The instruments for both variables were adapted and the reliability of the scale was checked in a pilot study. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and Regression analysis was conducted to test the predictive power of Perceived Responsiveness on Trust in Government in the study. The findings revealed a significant positive correlation between Perceived Responsiveness and Public Trust in Local Government (r= 0.709, p< 0.01). The regression analysis indicate that perceived responsiveness is a strong predictor of Public Trust in Local Government institutions. (β = 0.709, p < 0.001). The results of the study support the theoretical assertions that perceived responsiveness is a significant determinant of public trust in local government. Authorities who respond timely and effectively to citizen’s demands enjoy higher degree of public trust in them.

To control the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), governments are increasingly relying on the public to voluntarily manage risk. Effectiveness is likely to rely in part on how much the public trusts the Government's response. We examined the English public's trust in the Conservative Government to control the spread of COVID-19 after the initial 'crisis' period. We analyzed eight rounds of a longitudinal survey of 1899 smartphone users aged 18-79 in England between October 2020 and December 2021. We fitted a random-effects logit model to identify personal characteristics and opinions associated with trust in the Conservative Government to control the spread of COVID-19. Trust was lowest in January 2021 (28%) and highest in March 2021 (44%). Being older, having lower educational attainment and aligning with the Conservative Party were predictors of higher levels of trust. Conversely, being less deprived, reporting that Government communications were not clear and considering that the measures taken by the Government went too far or not far enough were predictors of being less likely to report a great deal or a fair amount of trust in the Government to control the pandemic. Trust in the Government's response was found to be low throughout the study. Our findings suggest that there may be scope to avoid losing trust by aligning Government actions more closely with scientific advice and public opinion, and through clearer public health messaging. However, it remains unclear whether and how higher trust in the Government's response would increase compliance with Government advice.

Until now, there have been no empirical studies published investing the link between citizens' satisfaction with government performance and its impact on public trust towards the government. Here, we explore the case of the Yemeni government. Public trust in government is considered very low among Arabic countries. Public trust in government in Yemen was found to be much lower than expected. Furthermore, the variables of citizen satisfaction with the quality of public services, the transparency of government and government performance in fighting corruption were found to be positively associated with public trust in the transitional Yemeni government at both the city and central levels. This study also found that some demographic features in Yemeni citizens such as males with low and middle school education showed a higher possibility of trust in city government. These findings suggest that maintaining political trust will be a challenge for the transitional Yemeni government especially because Yemen is now experiencing civil war.

Aim/Purpose: This study aims to investigate the influence of e-government public services on public trust at the local government level, addressing the pressing need to understand the factors shaping citizen perceptions and trust in government institutions. Background: With the proliferation of e-government initiatives worldwide, governments are increasingly turning to digital solutions to enhance public service delivery and promote transparency. However, despite the potential benefits, there remains a gap in understanding how these initiatives impact public trust in government institutions, particularly at the local level. This study seeks to address this gap by examining the relationship between e-government service quality, individual perceptions, and public trust, providing valuable insights into the complexities of citizen-government interactions in the digital age. Methodology: Employing a quantitative approach, this study utilises surveys distributed to users of e-government services in one of the regencies in Indonesia. The sample consists of 278 individuals. Data analysis is conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling, allowing for the exploration of relationships among variables and their influence on public trust. Contribution: This study provides insights into the factors influencing public trust in e-government services at the local government level, offering a nuanced understanding of the relationship between service quality, individual perceptions, and public trust. Findings: This study emphasises information quality and service quality in e-government-based public services as crucial determinants of individual perception in rural areas. Interestingly, system quality in e-government services has no influence on individual perception. In the individual perception, perceived security and privacy emerge as the strongest antecedent of public trust, highlighting the need to guarantee secure and private services for citizens in rural areas. These findings emphasise the importance of prioritising high-quality information, excellent service delivery, and robust security measures to foster and sustain public trust in e-government services. Recommendations for Practitioners: Practitioners must prioritise enhancing the quality of e-government services due to their significant impact on individual perception, leading to higher public trust. Government agencies must ensure reliability, responsiveness, and the effective fulfilment of user needs. Additionally, upholding high standards of information quality in e-government services by delivering accurate, relevant, and timely information remains crucial. Strengthening security measures through robust protocols such as data encryption and secure authentication becomes essential for protecting user data. With that in mind, the authors believe that public trust in government would escalate. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers could investigate the relation between system quality in e-government services and individual perception in different rural settings. Longitudinal studies could also elucidate how evolving service quality, information quality, and security measures impact user satisfaction and trust over time. Comparative studies across regions or countries can reveal cultural and contextual differences in individual perceptions, identifying both universal principles and region-specific strategies for e-government platforms. Analysing user behaviour and preferences across various demographic groups can inform targeted interventions. Furthermore, examining the potential of emerging technologies such as blockchain or artificial intelligence in enhancing e-government service delivery, security, and user engagement remains an interesting topic. Impact on Society: This study’s findings have significant implications for fostering public trust in government institutions, ultimately strengthening democracy and citizen-government relations. By understanding how e-government initiatives influence public trust, policymakers can make informed decisions to improve service delivery, enhance citizen engagement, and promote transparency, thus contributing to more resilient and accountable governance structures. Future Research: Future research could opt for longitudinal studies to evaluate the long-term effects of enhancements in service quality, information quality, and security. Cross-cultural investigations can uncover universal principles and contextual differences in user experiences, supporting global e-government strategies in rural areas. Future research could also improve the research model by adding more variables, such as risk aversion or fear of job loss, to gauge individual perceptions.

The role of mGovernment applications in building trust during public crises: Evidence from the COVID-19 epidemic

Several studies suggest that public trust in government in China remains high and without any trend of decline despite the fact that public trust in government has declined dramatically in developed countries. This article analyses public trust in government in contemporary urban China with a comprehensive representative survey and tests the factors associated with public trust in government. Trust in government in China is found to be much lower than previous studies have indicated. Furthermore, the variables of citizen satisfaction with the quality of public services, general democracy, participation in government and the transparency of government are positively associated with public trust in government in China at both the city and central level. In addition, this research also finds that citizens who are younger, more highly educated and well-paid have a lower probability of trust in government in China. These findings suggest that maintaining political trust will be a challenge for the Chinese government. Points for practitioners The findings in this study suggest that public managers and policymakers in China should pay full attention to the challenge posed by maintaining public trust in government, and need to consider formulating specific and feasible measures to enhance public trust based on the determinants of public trust in government. Moreover, in terms of the fact that the determinants that make public trust in government decline in developed countries also affect public trust in government in China, such public managers and policymakers need to strengthen communication with developed countries to improve the handling of the common challenge of maintaining public trust in government.

Public trust in national government in the Republic of Cyprus steadily and significantly declined, especially since 2008. Data from the period between 2001 and 2013 suggests that there may be three reasons for this decline. Firstly, the economic situation may explain a large portion of the variance in public trust in government. Secondly, disagreements over the Cyprus problem negotiations may have translated into mistrust towards a specific incumbent, Dimitris Christofias, who was largely considered to be mishandling the negotiations. Thirdly, a catastrophic explosion in the village of Mari, followed by extensive blaming of the President as mainly responsible for the incident may have also contributed to the declining trust in government.

Since the 1997 Asian financial crisis, special attention has been paid to public management reforms and good governance values in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. This study analyzes how citizen satisfaction with good governance values, government performance, and empowered citizenship affect public trust in government in these countries. The analysis is based on the Asia Barometer Survey data 2007. The study found that citizens' satisfaction with good governance values and perceived government performance in dealing with the economy and political corruption best explain the variation in trust in government among these countries. The variances in trust in central and local governments in Malaysia and Indonesia are best explained by citizen satisfaction with good governance values. Citizen satisfaction with good governance values is significantly associated with trust in local government only in Thailand. The study also finds that perceived government performance in the economy is significantly associated with trust in central governments in Malaysia and Thailand. Meanwhile, government performance in dealing with political corruption, quality of service, and government officials’ attention to citizen input are positively associated with trust in government in Thailand. Citizens who agree that there is wide spread corruption among those who govern the country expressed a low level of trust in government in Indonesia and Thailand. The study findings support that an approach comparing different countries can enhance our understanding of the complexity of and variations of the factors affecting public trust in government in different civil societies.

Public trust in government influences public attitudes toward the development of new technology. However, research conducted to assess the relationship has been done primarily in Western-style democracies. This research examines how public trust in the Chinese government is related, directly and indirectly, to public attitudes toward shale gas development. An online survey of a large convenience sample of Chinese residents (n = 1361) was conducted in 2022 in five provinces where shale gas extraction and/or exploration are occurring. We found that trust in central government has a direct positive association with the perceived benefits and risks of shale gas development. Respondents with higher trust in central and provincial government are more likely to express support shale gas development. There is also a statistically significant indirect positive association with support for shale gas development via greater perceived benefits, yet we did not find a statistically significant indirect effect of trust on support for shale gas development through perceived risks. The results are interesting because in China the government and the shale gas industry are more closely connected than they are in Western-style democracies and the environmental movement in China is at an early stage of development. Future research should examine how attitudes in China evolve as the scale of the shale gas industry grows and the environmental movement grows.

It is important to understand the public's trust in the government's ability to handle crisis events. Based on China Family Panel Studies data in 2018 and 2020, this paper explores the interaction between government trust and life satisfaction during the pandemic. It is found that with the increase in public trust in government officials, individual life satisfaction has been significantly improved. The main mechanism is that government trust enhances people's confidence in the future and promotes the government's investment in the livelihood fields. However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, individual life satisfaction suffered a negative impact. Individuals with high trust in the government before the pandemic had a small decrease in life satisfaction. At the same time, when faced with the pandemic, individuals were more willing to trust the government due to the desire to overcome common threats, which will alleviate the negative impact of the pandemic on individual life satisfaction. The research reported in this paper helps to explain the role of government in the crisis period from the perspective of public trust and provides useful information for the government to formulate and adjust policies to mitigate the impact of the crisis events. Points for practitioners In China, trust in local governments is related to public satisfaction.People are more willing to increase trust in the government to overcome a common crisis, thus reducing the negative impact of the crisis on individual life satisfaction.Perhaps more important is to promote the public service motivation of government officials through government trust.Providing public services, increasing accountability and transparency in society, and increasing citizen engagement are all effective ways to foster institutional trust.

Based on the Asia Barometer Survey of 2003, 2004, and 2006, government performance, citizen empowerment, and citizen satisfaction with self‐expression values are associated with public trust in government in Japan and South Korea. This study finds, first, that government performance on the economy, controlling political corruption, the quality of public services, crime, and attention to citizen input are significantly associated with broad public trust in government in both Japan and South Korea. Likewise, citizens’ satisfaction with their right to gather and demonstrate and to criticize the government is closely connected to trust in central and local governments in Japan. In South Korea, citizens’ satisfaction with their right to gather and demonstrate is intimately linked to trust in local government. Implications for government leadership to enhance performance, transparency, citizen participation, and public trust in government are analyzed and elaborated upon in this insightful study.

The study of citizens' trust in the national government has been primarily individual-level, cross-sectional analysis. In the current research, we develop a quarterly time series measure of trust in the U.S. national government from 1980 to 1997 and conduct the first multivariate time series examination of public trust in government. We find that negative perceptions of the economy, scandals associated with Congress, and increasing public concern about crime each lead to declining public trust in government. Declining trust in government in turn leads to less positive evaluations of Congress and reduced support for government action to address a range of domestic policy concerns. These results provide new evidence of the influence of public concern about crime and the centrality of Congress in understanding public evaluations of the national government and new evidence of how declining levels of trust in government may influence elections and domestic policy making.

Government websites and social media's influence on government-public relationships

본 연구는 Hirschman(1970)이 제시한 세 가지 정책반응행태를 적용하여 일반 국민이 지니고 있는정부 신뢰수준과 원자력 발전정책에 대한 반응행태를 분석하였다. 분석 결과 첫째, 항의는 다양한인구통계 요인에 의해 차이가 발생하는 것에 비해, 이탈과 충성은 차이를 발생시키는 요인이 단순하다. 둘째, 정부 신뢰수준이 높은 집단과 낮은 집단 모두에서 다양한 반응행태가 나타나며, 중앙정부보다 지방정부 신뢰수준에 따라 반응행태의 차이가 더욱 명확하게 드러났다. 셋째, 위험인식 수준이 높은 집단은 이탈이 높은 반면, 위험인식 수준이 낮은 집단은 항의가 높다. 마지막으로, 정부 신뢰수준이 높을수록 이탈이 감소하고 충성이 증가한다. 특히 지방정부 신뢰수준은 이탈과 충성을 결정하는 중요한 요인이다. 본 연구는 주민들이 현 거주지를 이탈할 가능성과 그렇지 않고 충성할 가능성에 지방정부에 대한 신뢰가 결정적 역할을 할 수 있음을 시사한다.This study analyzed public trust in government and public response to nuclear energy policy in Korea, applying Hirschman’s exit-voice-loyalty (EVL) model. Especially, in order to complement the limitation of the existing studies, we considered trust in central government and local government separately. The results are as follows. First, various demographic variables affect positive perception on the degree of ‘Voice’, while the degrees of ‘Exit’ and ‘Loyalty’ are influenced by simple factors. Second, the possibility of ‘Exit’ was highest in the group of high-risk perception, while the highest possibility of ‘Voice’ was found in the group of low-risk perception. Lastly, the higher level of public trust in government, the lower possibility of ‘Exit’ and the higher possibility of ‘Loyalty’. In particular, we found that trust in local government is the core determinant of both ‘Exit’ and ‘Loyalty’ behaviors.

As trust determines success in organizational performance, this study analyzes the impacts of public trust in government on a country’s economic performance as the mediating variable, thereby establishing the exogenous variables interpersonal trust, network, quality of governance, and citizenship. Trust in government is examined as the mediating variable, and economic evaluation as the dependent variable. Employing a structural equation model (SEM) and multi-group analysis, this article investigates the characteristic differences between two sets of two groups: OECD members and non-OECD members, and urban and rural areas. The results of multi-group analysis suggest, first, that the factors affecting public trust in government differ among groups with different social and economic backgrounds. Second, quality of governance positively affects public trust in government with different levels of values. Third, citizenship positively impacts public trust in government. This research extends the methodological perspective to analyze the mediating effects of public trust in government on economic evaluation within multi-group dimensions. This enables us to point out the common and differing attributes among groups while investigating parameters. The results from such an empirically strict approach to discover those effects can contribute to the academic literature.