The formation of institutional trust among immigrants: what is the role of democracy?

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article studies how trust in institutions is shaped among immigrants, considering the level of democracy in the countries of both origin and destination. Democracy is relevant to institutional trust as this system provides citizens with better performance, procedures and accountability. Immigrants use a ‘dual frame of reference’ when asked the extent to which they trust public institutions. They use their experiences in their countries of both origin and destination. Therefore, the difference between the levels of democracy in these two contexts may affect their trust in the institutions of the destination country. This article also considers the role of the length of time immigrants have lived in the host country and the age at which they migrated. Longer stays may make immigrants more similar to native citizens in their scepticism about institutions, while early-age migration may limit experience in the country of origin. To test these arguments the study applies a ‘double comparative design’ to data from the European Social Survey and the V-Dem project, and finds that trust in public institutions increases as immigrants move from less to more democratic countries, depending on their length of stay and age at migration.