Public trust in advisory mini-publics: the impact of recommendations and institutional design features

This study examines trust in public sector institutions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the impact factors. A survey was administered to a convenience sample of 1,372 local and expatriate residents in the United Arab Emirates during 2022–2023. Bivariate and multiple regression analyses were utilized. There was a high level of general public trust among respondents (mean = 4.11), with the highest trust in the police (mean = 4.21) followed by trust in the information disseminated by the government (mean = 4.06) and in the performance of public sector institutions (mean = 3.89). On the bivariate and multivariate levels, demographic variables had an insignificant impact on public trust. General trust was significantly correlated with institutional performance (β = 0.417), institutional integrity (β = 0.397), perceived gains (β = 0.378), and government-disseminated information (β = 0.374). Public trust is a complex reality linked to numerous organizational and nonorganizational factors. Improving public trust requires enhancing ethical conduct—crucial for maintaining trust—as well as good governance practices and leadership behavior. The sample size and quantitative focus might have limited the generalizability of the findings. In the future, researchers should use in-depth interviews or mixed methodologies.

Public trusts for natural resources incorporate both limits and duties on governments in their stewardship of those natural resources. They exist in every state in the United States—in constitutional provisions, statutes, and in common law. Yet the law recognizing public trusts for natural resources may contain only the most basic provisions—often just a sentence or two. The purpose and terms of these public trusts certainly answer some questions about the limits and duties of trustees, but they do not answer all questions. When questions arise that the body of law creating or recognizing a public trust for natural resources does not fully answer, trustees, lawyers, and courts often look to trust law for help. In fact, they have been doing so for more than a century, including in the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1892 public trust decision, Illinois Central Railroad Co. v Illinois. In this sense, trust law provides a set of background or underlying principles for interpreting and applying public trusts. Using cases from around the country, this Article sets out a four-step methodology for determining when and how to use trust law principles to help interpret public trusts. This methodology can be applied in any case involving the use of specific trust principles to help interpret any particular public trust. This Article also explains that the relevant trust law should not be limited to private trust law, but rather it should include general trust principles, charitable trust law principles, and private (or noncharitable) trust law principles. This Article uses a 2019 Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania decision, Pennsylvania Environmental Defense Foundation v. Commonwealth, as a case study. The case applies article I, section 27 of the Pennsylvania Constitution, which requires that public natural resources be conserved and maintained for the benefit of present and future generations. In that case, the court used an interpretation of private trust law to decide that the state could spend some bonus and rental payment money from oil and gas leasing on state forest and park land, which is constitutional public trust property, for non-trust purposes. This Article applies the four-part methodology to the case, explains general trust law and charitable trust law principles that the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania did not address, and argues that the use of these principles better fits the constitutional public trust. It concludes that the money from bonus and rental payments should be spent entirely for the purposes of the trust. This Article draws attention to both the potential value of trust law principles and also to their potential danger in the interpretation and application of public trust laws for natural resources. Trust law has the potential to enhance the protectiveness of public trusts by imposing various fiduciary duties on trustees. It also has the potential to undermine public trusts, particularly through rules requiring or encouraging that trust assets be financially productive. To vindicate public trusts for natural resources, environmental and natural resources lawyers need to become better trust lawyers.

This study examines the institutional characteristics of deliberative mini-publics across various European democracies, utilising Lijphart’s, A. (2012. Patterns of democracy: Government forms and performance in thirty-six countries (2nd ed.). Yale University Press) framework distinguishing majoritarian and consensus systems. Through a comprehensive dataset of deliberative mini-publics, the research explores the interplay between institutional design features and broader democratic contexts. The findings reveal unexpected patterns: while more consensual democracies are expected to promote inclusivity and intensity in citizen engagement, evidence indicates that systems with majoritarian characteristics often exhibit more pronounced forms of participation and decision-making. This paradox suggests that centralised decision-making in majoritarian democracies may compel political elites to seek alternative channels of legitimacy through citizen involvement, particularly when traditional governance mechanisms appear inadequate. Furthermore, the study highlights the significance of elite preferences and institutional supply in shaping deliberative mini-publics, challenging the assumption that consensus democracies inherently facilitate more robust participatory processes. Overall, this research contributes to the cross-country comparative literature on deliberative mini-publics, offering insights into the complex dynamics between political systems and participatory governance mechanisms.

This study examined general public's trust in national government and electric power companies in terms of nuclear power policies, and that in the government in terms of defense policies. A questionnaire was distributed to a sample of 560 Kobe citizens, and a total of 409 complete it. Covariance structure analysis was performed to test hypotheses of the present study. Results suggested that the more demanding of the government and corporations, the lower the person's trust. How well the person understood the difficulty of the work involved hardly affected his/her demand and trust in all three actors of the two issues. Results also indicated that the person who perceived the government to be under pressure to appear trustworthy tended to have lower trust in them, that Yamagishi's general trust (1998) did not influence the trust in the cases, and that awareness of popular political empowerment had a negative impact on the trust in the government.

BackgroundIn the Netherlands, public trust in conventional medicine is relatively high. There is reason to believe that public trust in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is rated lower. The aim of this study is to gain insight into public trust in CAM and the determinants that lie at the root of it. We hypothesized that public trust in CAM is related to (perceived) institutional guarantees, media information on CAM, information from people's social network, personal experiences, the role of general practitioners (GPs) and trust in conventional medicine.MethodsA postal questionnaire on public trust in CAM was mailed to 1358 members of the Health Care Consumer Panel. 65% of the questionnaires were returned. Data were analysed using frequencies, ANOVA, post hoc testing and linear regression analyses.ResultsIn the total sample, the level of public trust in CAM was a 5.05 on average on a scale of 1-10. 40.7% was CAM user (current or past) and displayed significantly higher levels of trust toward CAM than CAM non users. In the total sample, public trust in CAM was related to institutional guarantees, negative media information, positive and negative information reported by their social network and people's personal experiences with CAM. For non users, trust is mostly associated with institutional guarantees. For users, personal experiences are most important. For both users and non users, trust levels in CAM are affected by negative media information. Public trust in CAM is for CAM users related to positive information and for non users to negative information from their network.ConclusionsIn the Netherlands, CAM is trusted less than conventional medicine. The hypotheses on institutional guarantees, media information, information from the network and people's personal experiences are confirmed by our study for the total sample, CAM non users and users. The other hypotheses are rejected.

Public trust in water managers is often considered an important precondition for the effective implementation of sustainable water-management practices. Although it is well known that general public trust in government institutions is under pressure, much less is known in the literature on water governance whether such distrust also affects general and task-specific trust of the wider public in water managers. In addition, empirical studies on the determinants of such trust seem to be scarce. To fill those gaps, this study aims to measure general and task-specific public trust in water managers in the Netherlands and to assess how a selected group of potential determinants is related to general- and task-specific trust in water managers. To this end, we employ an original survey among a representative sample of the Dutch population (N = 2262). We find that trust in water managers in the Netherlands is generally high, but that it also comes with some task-specific variations. People have more trust in the flood-protection capacities of the water managers than in the capacities to successfully manage surface-water quality, nature conservation, and drought management. Using linear regression models, we subsequently find that individual-level variations in trust in water managers are best explained by one's general level of political trust. Additionally, we also show that both risk perceptions and self-evaluations of how informed people feel themselves about water management are important factors with (curvilinear) relations with trust in water managers. Overall, we conclude that water managers are under specific conditions able to build themselves well-established reputations and relatively high trust levels based on their performances. Nevertheless, trust development is far from entirely in the hands of the water managers themselves as we also conclude that trust evaluations of water managers are not immune from negative generalized political evaluations and public perceptions on water related risks.

There is little research into the understanding, protection and recovery of public trust in health care systems, considering the underlying importance of public trust, not only for the effective functioning of health care systems, but also for society in general. There is no robust conceptual framework of public trust. This poses problems for policy making and public trust measurement. Therefore, research is needed to identify what public trust in the health care system means. This research will not only inform health policy making, but should also allow the development of a public trust measure in the future.
\nHence, the aim of this research is to gain deeper understanding of what public trust in health care systems at the macro level is, and to close a theory and conceptual gap. Furthermore, this research aims to determine whether public trust is measurable.
\nTo fulfil the research aim, three qualitative case studies of the English NHS were conducted: an analysis of online news with readership comments concerning care.data; a secondary analysis of interviews about participants’ experiences and perceptions of biobanks in general; and an analysis of public focus groups about perceptions of the 100.000 Genomes Project in particular. Further, existing measurement instruments and their conceptual frameworks, as well as general trust theory, were reviewed. Based on these elements, public trust theory and a conceptual framework of public trust were developed.
\nThe findings suggest that public trust grows in the public sphere from open public discourse and as a result legitimises the actions of the health care system. Public trust builds on information equally relating to past experiences, present perceptions and future expectations. Public trust is established in anticipation of a net benefit for the public as well as the system. With respect to the measurability of public trust, this research suggests that public trust can be measured.

A sharia audit is a procedure that entails a systematic review of a sharia financial institution's whole operation for conformity with sharia rules. Internal audits, external audits, and any other activities requiring adherence to sharia principles are examples of these activities. Internal and external auditors can both do Sharia audits. The general public's trust is crucial to the efficacy of zakat management. In part, a sharia audit can be used to maintain and ensure the integrity of zakat management organizations in their implementation of sharia principles. The goal of this study was to use a descriptive quantitative research technique as well as a literature review from relevant sources, including earlier studies. The findings suggest that implementing a good and legal sharia audit in zakat institutions will have a significant impact on the level of public trust. Sharia-compliant auditing is an important part of restoring public trust in zakat institutions.

Existing research on public perceptions of deliberative mini-publics focuses on contexts of representative democracy. We present the first study that explores citizen support for deliberative mini-publics in a polity characterised by extensive direct democracy, where citizen participation is already substantive and frequent. Empirically, we draw on a population survey featuring a conjoint experiment with 3700 respondents conducted in early 2023 in Switzerland, after the holding of three deliberative mini-publics on climate policy. We find that citizens generally have positive views of deliberative mini-publics, but that they do not want them to replace existing direct democratic institutions. Factors associated with citizen support for replacing existing institutions by deliberative mini-publics are trust in fellow citizens and dissatisfaction with direct democracy in both normative and instrumental terms. Regarding design features, we found that citizens prefer deliberative mini-publics that delve into salient topics and have unconstrained modes of participation as well as time-efficient formats, but that do not make binding decisions. Financial compensations to deliberative mini-public participants had no effect on citizens’ preferences. Citizens were sceptical, moreover, about sortition as a recruitment procedure for the deliberating group. Points for practitioners Deliberative mini-publics (DMPs) are participatory designs in which a group of randomly chosen citizens deliberates on policy issues and formulates recommendations. Our study shows that citizens generally find DMPs an attractive participatory format, even though random selection of participants is not (yet) well understood. And although citizens are sceptical about handing power directly to DMPs, they want them to have real influence in the policy process.

The association of public trust with the utilization of digital contact tracing for COVID-19 in Japan

Introduction: Preparedness a social behavior with public trust the prerequisite for proper social functioning can reduce disaster sufferings. The aim of this study was to determine the public trust, preparedness, and the influencing factors regarding the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Iran. Methods: This online cross-sectional study conducted on Tehran residents (≥18 years) during the fifth epidemic wave. The tool designed to assess the intention to prepare, public trust, and the subscales. T-test used to compare the means and linear regression to determine the factors influencing on the outcomes. Results: About 26.5% of 407 participants (mean age standard deviation: 40.8 (12.8) years) showed low trust. The mean levels of total trust (P = 0.011), general trust (P = 0.048), and trust to managing authorities (P = 0.018) were significantly lower in men. Adjusted to confounding variables, total trust was lower in men (ß = −3.8, P = 0.01) and less educated (ß = −6.48, P = 0.02) but higher in high-income (ß = 5.7, P = 0.02) people. Only 20% of people were highly prepared. Intention to prepare was higher in families having the elderly (ß = 5.72.8, P = 0.048). Conclusion: Low trust in the managing authorities and their provided information tend to less considering health and preparedness measures in society.

The development of COVID-19 vaccines is a major scientific accomplishment that has armed communities worldwide with powerful epidemic control tools. Yet, COVID-19 vaccination efforts in the US have been marred by persistent vaccine hesitancy. We used survey methodology to explore the impact of different cognitive and cultural factors on the public’s general vaccination attitudes, attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines, and COVID-19 vaccination status. The factors include information literacy, science literacy, attitudes towards science, interpersonal trust, public health trust, political ideology, and religiosity. The analysis suggests that attitudes towards vaccination are influenced by a multitude of factors that operate in a complex manner. General vaccination attitude was most affected by attitudes towards science and public health trust and to a lesser degree by information literacy, science literacy, and religiosity. Attitudes towards COVID-19 vaccines were most affected by public health trust and to a lesser extent by general trust, ideology and attitudes towards science. Vaccination status was most influenced by public health trust. Possible mediating effects of correlated variables in the model need to be further explored. The study underscores the importance of understanding the relationship between public health trust, literacies, and sociocultural factors.

IntroductionInternationally, cultural factors are associated with vaccine uptake and completion in ethnic minority communities. Whilst Australia has achieved high human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination, little is known about how culture or ethnicity influences HPV vaccination engagement. To address these gaps, we partnered with our Local Health District to explore how one culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community engages with school and HPV vaccination.MethodsWe adapted a participatory research method (the World Café) to engage one local CALD community—the Macedonian community (Our bi‐cultural researcher and participants preferred the term ‘Macedonia’ rather than The Republic of North Macedonia as outlined in the 2018 Prespa agreement) in New South Wales (Australia)—to discuss HPV and school vaccination. Our qualitative analysis combined deductive codes taken from the Tailoring Immunization Programme framework, inductive codes guided by narrative inquiry (temporality, sociality and place) and previously known vaccination ‘trust’ frameworks.ResultsIn late 2019, 31 local Macedonian community members were purposely recruited for two World Cafés (n = 15 mothers/grandmothers and n = 16 young adults). Our themes reveal a community narrative grounded in historical vaccine experiences, family views on vaccination and a general trust in schools. Participants collectively discussed how ‘increasing knowledge’ and ‘tailoring health communications’ could strengthen community vaccine decision‐making.ConclusionThis study demonstrates how research partnerships and participatory methods can be applied in CALD community settings to research engagement with school and HPV vaccination. Our World Café dialogues highlight a positive narrative about vaccines, where community vaccination behaviours were built on multilayer trust relationships despite low vaccine knowledge. Our findings further knowledge around ‘public trust’ in school vaccination, highlighting the importance of existing (or missing) trust relationships when tailoring vaccine communication to local CALD communities.Patient or Public ContributionParticipants who took part in the World Cafes were all local Macedonian community parents or young adults who have been or will be exposed to the health services offered by school‐based HPV vaccination. Thus, all the data collected came from their personal experiences with the school vaccination programme, or how they expect to participate in the programme. To ensure our study design was culturally appropriate and tailored to the Macedonian community, we engaged with the relevant local health stakeholders (the bi‐cultural Multicultural Health Officer and Multicultural Health Service Manager Programme Director) to adapt and refine the World Café method for this context and setting. Our local health stakeholders also reviewed our preliminary findings, assisted with data interpretation and participated in manuscript editing.

Examinant les approches cognitive et non-cognitive de la confiance dans le domaine de la theorie politique contemporaine, l'A. souligne la pertinence de la seconde pour le gouvernement, ainsi que l'importance d'un sens de la securite concernant la bienveillance, le caractere consciencieux et la reciprocite des acteurs politiques dans la vie publique moderne

Clinical development faces two major challenges: public trust and productivity. Recent opinion polls show that the public trust in pharmaceutical companies has fallen sharply. If public trust in clinical trials decreases, recruitment of patients for clinical trials will be more difficult, which in turn will result in even poorer productivity. This article clarifies the nature of the ethical challenges that lie ahead and specifies the design features that can increase productivity in individual clinical trials under ethically acceptable standards.