The Role of Governance on Trust in Public Administration on the 100th Anniversary of the Republic: A Local Governance Analysis

Abstract

The Republic, at its core, is a political system based on sharing, participation, and trust. Therefore, the state of the relationship between the government and the citizens is of paramount importance for the health of the system. The aim of this study is to elucidate a small part of this relationship at the local level on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of our Republic. In this context, the study attempts to analyze the impact of good governance practices on trust in public administration. This is because the level of trust that citizens have in public administration is one of the key determinants of the distance in the state-citizen relationship. Additionally, it is acknowledged that well-functioning governance mechanisms also have an impact on trust in public administration.
 The study, the impact of the governance practices of responsiveness, accountability, transparency, and participation on trust was analyzed. Data were collected from 367 citizens living in the Uşak province (Turkey) through face-to-face and online surveys. The Structural Equation Modeling analysis revealed that all four dimensions of governance had a statistically significant positive effect on citizens' trust in public administration. The lowest impact on trust was observed in the dimension of participation. As a result, it can be said that well-functioning governance mechanisms and processes are a necessity to enhance citizens' trust in public administration at the local level. Furthermore, the development of methods that encourage greater citizen participation in these mechanisms and processes will contribute to increasing trust.