Trust in the Capability of the Welfare State and General Welfare State Support: Sweden 1997-2002

Abstract

A central component of institutional trust is related to perceptions of state capacity. Claims have been made that if citizens’ experiences with the state tell them that the government is efficacious, fair and trustworthy, then the odds for supporting publicly financed welfare policies are higher compared to a situation when their experiences with government feed feelings of inefficiency, corruption, unfairness and arbitrary discretion. The general question guiding the empirical analysis is the following: Is distrust in institutional capability an important prerequisite for general welfare state support withdrawal? Relying on Swedish nationally representative survey data, this issue is examined using Latent Class Analysis (LCA). Empirical evidence suggests that distrust in the institutional capability of the welfare state has not translated into widespread anti-welfare state sentiments. For some citizens, distrust in the capability of the welfare state is an issue of insufficient resources and they are willing to increase social spending in order to improve social services and benefits. For other citizens, distrust is closely connected with anti-welfare state sentiments. The article discusses the implications of the results for arguments about institutional trust and welfare state support.