Confidence In Public Institutions Research Articles

Vulnerability and conspiracism in the United States from McCarthyism to Trumpism

This text offers an overview of conspiracism in the United States from the 1950s to the present. Even if contemporary conspiracy mongering extends certain practices and attitudes that were already well-known at the time of Richard Hofstadter’s classic study of the “paranoid style in American politics” (1964) and Robert Goldberg’s more recent study of “the culture of conspiracy in modern America” (2001, 2010), it also introduces new techniques by savvy strategists, such as Donald Trump and Tucker Carlson, who exploit the economic vulnerability of many and the status loss anxiety of many others to destabilize the faculty of judgment of American citizens, increase polarization and suspicion between opposing camps, and weaken confidence in public institutions and democracy. This new conspiracism, we claim, serves to console the most vulnerable and turn the attention of the American public away from a forty-year social trend (conspiracy or not) which would be a neoliberal globalization that deepens inequalities and advances most often with total impunity to advance the interests of powerful deciders and loyalists—the first being to retain power and their control over narratives of power. The paper concludes with some recommendations for combatting this highly cynical and corrosive new conspiracism.

Political trust and legitimacy crisis in the age of COVID-19: an assessment of the EndSARS protest in Nigeria

The article examined the manifestations of political trust deficits associated with people's response to policy choices of Nigeria's government during the COVID-19 pandemic. Like many other states, the African states and particularly the Nigerian government adopted WHO-recommended containment measures to limit the spread of the virus and the associated catastrophe. These measures included lockdowns, shutdowns, social distancing, and personal hygiene among other preventive procedures. Even though the pandemic was relatively less endemic in Africa, as per official statistics, African states swiftly implemented the WHO containment measures, which impacted negatively on the livelihood of the average household, who depends on daily incomes for survival. The worsening living condition caused by the containment measures expectedly deepened resentment against governments in Africa with already poor records of public service delivery, accountability, transparency, and human rights. Nigeria was one of the African countries that experienced citizens' backlash and violent outrage against government policy choices during the COVID-19. Under the guise fighting police brutality, youths staged mass anti-government protests that transformed into large scale violence, particularly in the southern parts of the country otherwise known as the “EndSARS Protests.” The protests were conceived against police brutality in the enforcement of COVID-19 measures. This article examined the outbreak of EndSARS protests as a transformation of the deepening of political trust deficits in age of COVID-19. It adopted qualitative approach using documentary evidence such as newspaper reports and official documents as instruments of data collection. The Institutional Performance Theory guided the article. The theory assumes that the actual performance of government determines citizens' level of trust and confidence in public institutions. The article found that perennial government inefficiency, limited accountability and transparency as well as poor human rights records of the government and its agencies, particularly the police exacerbated an already existing political trust deficits amongst the people in Nigeria. This was manifested in the outburst of a large-scale violent outrage by the youths as protest to the government containment measures and widespread dysfunctional governmental institutions and particularly police brutality. The article concluded that building trust is particularly important for governments, as this can be achieved through output sense, the provision of public goods, or social support.

Impact of Crime and Insecurity on Citizen Trust in Public Institutions: Evidence from Bangladesh

The paper aims to explore how crime and insecurity influence citizen trust in public institutions. The study takes Bangladesh as a case study to analyze individual-level data from 1200 respondents obtained from Wave 7 of the World Values Survey (WVS) conducted following a representative sampling. Employing simple linear and multiple regression models, the results demonstrate that the relationships between citizen trust and the four variables of crime and insecurity are significantly negative. The findings indicate that crime incidence in neighborhoods, victimization, fear of crime, and worrying about life detrimentally affect or erode citizen trust and confidence in public institutions. Therefore, the study concludes that combating crime, protecting public security, and maintaining law and order are crucial to restoring citizen trust in public institutions and improving government performance.

The Impact of the Fight Against Corruption on Nigeria's Economy: A Case Study of the Economic and Financial Crime Commission

Corruption in Nigeria has long hindered economic development and raised concerns about resource misallocation, reduced foreign direct investment, and eroded public confidence in institutions. Established in 2003, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) was tasked with combating economic and financial offenses, including corruption. This study aimed to assess the impact of anti-corruption efforts, particularly the role of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), on Nigeria's economy. A survey research design was employed, with data collected through 109 structured questionnaires administered to personnel from various units of the EFCC at the Enugu state branch. Out of the questionnaires distributed, 100 were properly filled out and returned for analysis. Respondents were selected using a simple random sampling technique. The collected data were processed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 20.0. Descriptive statistical tools, such as simple percentages presented in tables and charts, were used to analyze and interpret the questionnaire data. The study revealed several key findings. Firstly, it emphasized the importance of the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Secondly, it highlighted the positive impact of anti-corruption efforts on the country's economy. Thirdly, it found that the EFCC has been making progress in combating corruption. Lastly, it confirmed that corruption hinders Nigeria's economic development. In conclusion, this study casts a glaring spotlight on the corrosive impact of corruption on Nigeria's economy, translating to staggering losses exceeding $100 billion in GDP. Consequently, the research emphasized the necessity of intensifying anti-corruption efforts. It proposed recommendations to address this issue, including the strengthening of anti-corruption agencies, the improvement of legal frameworks, and the promotion of economic growth as crucial steps towards achieving sustainable

Fostering social cohesion through Kwame Nkrumah’s philosophical consciencism: The South African case

Since apartheid was formally abolished in 1994, South Africa has had a complicated social environment. Even though the end of apartheid was a great achievement, this country is now facing a number of societal issues that affect social cohesiveness. These issues include high unemployment rates, racial conflicts, economic inequality, and land reform-related problems. In addition, South Africa has problems with crime, corruption, and service delivery, all of which erode public confidence in institutions and exacerbate social unrest. Rainbowism is one tactic employed to promote social cohesion; however, much debate exists about its capacity to deliver. Therefore, this study proposes Kwame Nkrumah’s philosophical consciencism as a means of promoting social cohesion in South Africa.

ДЕРЖАВНИЙ ФІНАНСОВИЙ АУДИТ: РЕАЛІЇ, ТЕНДЕНЦІЇ ТА НАПРЯМИ УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ

The effective operation of the state, as well as its successful development, depends on the availability of budgetary funds, their proper distribution and use. That is why the problematic aspects of auditing in the field of public finance are of great importance. The state financial audit helps to assess the reliability of financial statements of state institutions and enterprises, which ensures transparency of their financial activities to the public and international partners. The audit helps to identify shortcomings in financial management and reveal opportunities for reducing costs and optimizing budget resources. Based on a thorough analysis of the national legislative and regulatory framework, the article presents the key differences between an independent audit and a state financial audit according to the following comparison criteria: concept; subjects; legal regulation; grounds for conducting; organizational and managerial support; financing; and documentation of the audit results. Particular attention is paid to the objects of the state financial audit, such as the implementation of budget programs, local budgets, activities of business entities, investment projects, use of information technology, state (regional) target programs. The article analyzes statistical reports on state financial audits conducted by the State Audit Service of Ukraine for 2018–2023. In particular, it was found that since 2019 the number of state financial audits conducted annually decreased, and in 2023 their number increased. At the same time, the share of components of the state financial audits conducted is approximately the same, except for state financial audits of investment projects, which were conducted only once in 2019 and twice in 2020. Based on the results of the state financial audits conducted in 2018–2023, the losses of financial and material resources caused by inefficient management actions or risky operations were compensated and prevented, and financial violations that caused losses of financial and material resources were eliminated. It is found that every year (except for 2021) both the amount of compensation and the amount of elimination of losses of financial and material resources, as well as the amount of eliminated financial violations, are increasing. The authors provide directions for improving the implementation of the state financial audit in Ukraine, which is an important tool for ensuring the stability and sustainable development of the Ukrainian economy, promotes confidence in public institutions, attracting investment and efficient use of budget funds.

Legal Education as Factor for Public Security

Security in modern society means more than just protecting territory and sovereignty. The dynamics of the existing and emerging new threats in the modern world, require ensuring security in society. Security is closely related to legality. Achieving security is directly related to the presence of trust and respect for the rule of law as a factor of fundamental importance for citizens to have confidence in public institutions. Without the existence of such trust, democratic societies cannot function. Legal education is the one that provides knowledge but it also forms personalities. Individuals who can be a provider of guarantees for stability and security in our society.

What factors are associated with public corruption perception? Evidence from Canada

Purpose Corruption perception is essential to study because it can shape people’s attitudes toward the government. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to address this key question: what factors are associated with a non-expert’s judgment of whether Canada is corrupt? Design/methodology/approach This study uses the World Value Survey conducted in Canada in October 2020. This survey is based on a nationally representative sample of a cross-section of adult Canadian residents, including Canadian citizens and permanent residents and those who are neither Canadian citizens nor permanent residents. Findings Based on this study, some conclusions can be made. First, people accessing corruption news from the traditional news media are less likely than those receiving information from the new media to perceive the state (in this case, Canada) as corrupt. Second, people who have less confidence in public institutions are more likely to perceive a country as corrupt. Third, people who participate in electoral and non-electoral forms of political participation are more likely to perceive the state and its public officials as corrupt. Fourth, regardless of which political party is in power, individuals who lean right politically are more likely than those on the left to perceive the state as corrupt. Finally, immigrants are less likely than those born in Canada to perceive the state as corrupt. This work enriches the literature on the substantive understanding of the factors associated with corruption perception. Originality/value Studies investigating factors associated with public perception of corruption tend to focus on developing countries. The current study contributes to filling this gap in knowledge by examining correlates of corruption perception in Canada. As a result, this study contributes to the literature on factors associated with corruption perception, especially in the developed country context.

Case Study of the Russian Disinformation Campaign During the War in Ukraine – Propaganda Narratives, Goals and Impacts

This study examines strategic importance and use of disinformation and propaganda narrative of the Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation (Russia) about foreign citizens fighting in the war conflict in 2022 on the side of Ukraine. With that regard, Russia uses disinformation as a tool of the information warfare or as a non-lethal weapon and operationalizes it in accordance with „4D Concept - dismiss, distort, distract, and dismay “. Thereby, the disinformation placed by Russia represents a classic example of fake, false, and distorted information designed and distributed with the intention to cause a targeted strategical, operational, or tactical effect. This research is focused on the analysis of distributed disinformation and its media/propaganda effect on the abovementioned topic in the following countries: Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. The research methodologies used in this study are content analysis and social network and instant messaging (IM) services analysis. The research has led to the conclusion that a systematic, continuous, and synchronised distribution of disinformation in a form of disinformation campaign can have negative impact on public opinion and trust. Therefore, such designed disinformation efforts require a quick and systematic reaction of the government since one of direct objectives of disinformation is to spread confusion among the public, undermine confidence in public institutions and Government and compromise the process of strategic decision making of the targeted country. To conclude, the likely effect of such disinformation campaign significantly increases as it spreads in a planned, synchronised and aggressive way through official and unofficial sources/communication channels and popular social networks and instant messaging (IM) services.

Confidence in public institutions is critical in containing the COVID‐19 pandemic

AbstractThis paper investigates the relative importance of confidence in public institutions to explain cross‐country differences in the severity of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) pandemic. We find that a 1 SD increase (e.g., the actual difference between the United States and Finland) in confidence is associated with 56.3% fewer predicted deaths per million inhabitants. Confidence in public institutions is one of the most important predictors of deaths attributed to COVID‐19, compared to country‐level measures of health risks, the health system, demographics, economic and political development, and social capital. We show for the first time that confidence in public institutions encompasses more than just the unobserved quality of health or public services in general. If confidence only included the perceived quality, it would be associated with other health and social outcomes such as breast cancer recovery rates or imprisonment as well, but this is not the case. Moreover, our results indicate that fighting a pandemic requires citizens to cooperate with their governments, and willingness to cooperate relies on confidence in public institutions.

CORRUPTION IMPACT ON HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Medical system is one of the public sector directly affected by corruption, with a negative impact on society. Mostly, corruption affects people’s confidence in public institutions, undermines the sense of justice, and the quality of medical act or public administration are generally questioned. The presence of Covid-19 pandemic along with economic difficulties that countries were facing at the end of 2019, outlined the elements needed to set up a crisis situation. The most affected and hard-to-try public systems was the healthcare sector, and it was necessary to identify solutions that would prove useful in the face of the aggressive spread of the virus and the exponential increase in cases of disease. In this way, was drawn an opportunity for corruption to flourish in healthcare sectors around the world, the main cause being the mismanagement of financial resources allocated to the fight against pandemic. Procurement of goods and services for a proper treatment against disease, has generated favorable conditions for the embezzlement of healthcare funds, by instant appearance of companies specialized in sales segment, and by involving nepotism and favoritism in the procedures for awarding public contracts. Like so, the research explores the recent connection between corruption and COVID-19 pandemic. In this study the information collected from OECD, Transparency International Index, World Health Organization and from Romanian judicial system will be analyzed to underline the factors of corruption, to elaborate multi-level approach that reveals corruption’s appearance and evolution, to indicate the relation between public health and corruption acts. The aim is to achieve objectives like building, developing and protecting an impartial healthcare system, strengthening the integrity of medical act through education, prevention and responsibility, and developing rigorous mechanisms of administrative verification.

Social Environment and Attitudes toward COVID-19 Anti-Contagious Measures: An Explorative Study from Italy.

Social and cultural aspects (i.e., political decision making, discourses in the public sphere, and people's mindsets) played a crucial role in the ways people responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Framed with the Semiotic-Cultural Psychological Theory (SCPT), the present work aims to explore how individual ways of making sense of their social environment affected individuals' perception of government measures aimed at managing the pandemic and the adherence to such measures. An online survey was administered from January to April 2021 to the Italian population. Retrieved questionnaires (N = 378) were analyzed through a Multiple Correspondence Analysis (MCA) to detect the factorial dimensions underpinning (dis)similarities in the respondents' ways of interpreting their social environment. Extracted factors were interpreted as markers of Latent Dimensions of Sense (LDSs) organizing respondents' worldviews. Finally, three regression models tested the role of LDSs in supporting the individual satisfaction with the measures adopted to contain the social contagion defined at national level, individual adherence to the containment measures and the perception of the population's adherence to them. Results highlight that all the three measures are associated with a negative view of the social environment characterized by a lack of confidence in public institutions (health system, government), public roles and other people. Findings are discussed on the one hand to shed light on the role of deep-rooted cultural views in defining personal evaluations of government measures and adherence capacity. On the other hand, we suggest that taking into account people's meaning-making can guide public health officials and policy makers to comprehend what favors or hinders adaptive responses to emergencies or social crises.

Passing the buck!—how credible are self-reported measures of confidence in public institutions?

Abstract Measures of confidence in public institutions are self-reported and therefore, susceptible to heterogeneity arising out of individual perceptions. In this article, I explore the possibility of individuals reporting lower levels of confidence in public institutions depending on their personal economic conditions, for which these institutions cannot be solely held responsible. Using nationally representative Indian data, I exploit exogenous sources of indebtedness in an instrumental variables regression approach to identify the causal effects of personal economic hardships on confidence in public institutions. The identification strategy relies on exogenous variation in the measure of indebtedness generated by a large monetary loss arising out of natural calamities such as accident, fire, or drought. I find that estimated coefficients from two-stage least square regressions are negative and statistically significant suggesting that an increase in indebtedness is associated with an erosion in confidence measures.

Transparency in public life with particular emphasis on local government finance

Transparency in public life is a value protected by law in Poland. The article refers in many places to the issue of transparency in the spending of public funds, and consequently building public confidence in public institutions and persons exercising public authority. In the presented material were discussed issues of guarantees that guard the transparency of public life, as well as information about the financial system and principles of operation of financial management in local government units, taking into account matters involving their openness and transparency. Transparency is a fundamental right to obtain information as a public good that is the public information resource. Readers are presented with the legal basis shaping the duties of public authorities, the state of implementation of principles set out in national and international legislation. Municipal self-government has inseparable connection with common property what naturally leads to the need of social control of activities to secure realization of collective public goals. This nature requires that they have the characteristics of transparency which allows, consequently, the possibility of accountability. The public sector that functions closest to the inhabitants are communal governments that carry out the biggest package of tasks of basic importance for the members of self-governmental communities.

Investigative prevention of corruption crimes

PurposeThe fight against corruption, which undermines the efficiency of the state apparatus and public confidence in public institutions, remains one of the critical present-day tasks. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to identify the available possibilities and real practice of law enforcement of the norms on investigative prevention, the practical significance of this institution and its potential.Design/methodology/approachThe study investigated theoretical materials on criminological prevention, legislative norms and available law enforcement practice.FindingsIt was discovered that, in general, the available statutory regulation is insufficient for the full-fledged practical implementation of the potential of investigative prevention. An exception is specialised prevention, assigned as one of the main tasks to the Agency of the Republic of Kazakhstan for Combating Corruption. Proposals have been formulated to improve anti-corruption investigative prevention in other bodies of pre-trial investigation, considering the identified risks.Originality/valueThe uniqueness of the situation lies in the fact that the existence of the institution of investigative prevention, in fact, is limited to the post-Soviet space. The elimination of formalism in the approach to this method of crime prevention can contribute to greater efficiency in the fight against crime, including corruption.

Political support in an ethnically divided society: a case study of Malaysia

ABSTRACT Many studies have identified ethnic divisions as an obstacle to successful democratization. The present study examines political attitudes among ethnic majority Malays and two minority communities, Chinese and Indians, in Malaysia, a country which took a step toward democratization with a change of national government in 2018, yet seems to have reverted to single-party dominance. Utilizing survey data from 2006 to 2019, we compare attitudes at four levels of political support among the three ethnic communities: rejection of authoritarian regimes, confidence in public institutions, engagement in channels of political participation, and national pride. The availability of data collected after 2018 allows us to detect changes following the country’s first national-level power alternation. Empirical analysis reveals that in recent years the Chinese are significantly more likely to reject non-democratic regime alternatives to democracy compared with the ethnic majority Malays. Moreover, the Chinese community's long-held distrust in the government, parliament, judiciary and civil service has faded by 2019, suggesting a change of attitude brought by the 2018 election. On the other hand, while all three ethnic groups express some degree of national pride in the surveys, ethnic minorities are less likely to be very proud of being Malaysian compared with ethnic Malays.

Social value orientations and public confidence in institutions: A young democracy under the imprint of COVID-19

Social value orientations (SVOs) of a society determine peoples' behaviour and are critical for young democracies in crises. This paper draws on the Maldives Values in Crisis survey, conducted during the first wave of COVID-19 pandemic. SVOs assessed using the Schwartz Personal Values Questionnaire shows that Maldivian society weigh slightly towards prosocial. Urban-rural, age, and gender determine the SVOs on the dimension of Openness to change versus Conservation while age and gender determine the SVOs on Self-enhancement versus Self-transcendence dimension. Confidence in the public institutions were moderate and not associated with the SVOs. The moderate level of SVOs and confidence in institutions reflects the democratic landscape of the country. Although prosocial SVOs are favourable for implementing containment measures of the pandemic, without a strong value orientation towards conservation and self-transcendence, and confidence in the institutions, the country faces the risk of non-compliance to measures and escalation of the crisis.

What explains citizen trust in public institutions? Quality of government, performance, social capital, or demography

ABSTRACT Trust is an essential indicator in the governance mechanism involving citizens’ confidence in public institutions. The present study focuses on citizens’ trust level in local administrative institutions, such as Upazila (sub-district) administrative offices in Bangladesh. It seeks to identify the factors that can explain the variations in citizens’ trust level in public institutions. Based on the survey data of 1440 respondents from 16 Upazila administrative offices, it is found that, first, citizens’ trust in these offices is high. Second, demographic variables involving citizens’ occupation, such as political activism and NGO work, have the strongest overall effect on the variations in citizens’ trust in the Upazila administrative offices. Citizens’ civic engagement or associations to secure service also affect trust in Upazila administrative offices more than performance variables do.

Confidence in Public Institutions is Critical in Containing the COVID-19 Pandemic

Background There is substantial heterogeneity in COVID-19 prevalence and deaths across countries. Several potential mechanisms have already been revealed behind this phenomenon, and from policy point of view, it is key to find the most important ones to fight pandemics that are expected to occur more often in the future.Methods We employ regression and machine learning methods to identify the most critical predictors of deaths attributed to the pandemic. We control for each type of confounding factors used in the previous articles.Findings We find that confidence in public institutions is one of the most important predictors of deaths attributed to COVID-19, compared to country-level measures of individual health risks, the health system, demographics, economic and political development, and social capital. A one standard deviation increase (e.g., the actual difference between the US and Finland) in confidence is associated with 350·9 (95% CI -531·922 - -169·831, p=0·000) fewer predicted deaths per million inhabitants.Interpretation Our results suggest that effective policy implementation during pandemics requires citizens to cooperate with their governments, and willingness to cooperate relies on confidence in public institutions.Funding Hungarian National Scientific Research Program (PD128850 and FK131422).Declaration of Interest: None to declare.

The trouble with trust: Time-series analysis of social capital, income inequality, and COVID-19 deaths in 84 countries.

Can social contextual factors explain international differences in the spread of COVID-19? It is widely assumed that social cohesion, public confidence in government sources of health information and general concern for the welfare of others support health advisories during a pandemic and save lives. We tested this assumption through a time-series analysis of cross-national differences in COVID-19 mortality during an early phase of the pandemic. Country data on income inequality and four dimensions of social capital (trust, group affiliations, civic responsibility and confidence in public institutions) were linked to data on COVID-19 deaths in 84 countries. Associations with deaths were examined using Poisson regression with population-averaged estimators. During a 30-day period after recording their tenth death, mortality was positively related to income inequality, trust and group affiliations and negatively related to social capital from civic engagement and confidence in state institutions. These associations held in bivariate and mutually controlled regression models with controls for population size, age and wealth. The results indicate that societies that are more economically unequal and lack capacity in some dimensions of social capital experienced more COVID-19 deaths. Social trust and belonging to groups were associated with more deaths, possibly due to behavioural contagion and incongruence with physical distancing policy. Some countries require a more robust public health response to contain the spread and impact of COVID-19 due to economic and social divisions within them.