Confidence In Institutions Research Articles

Determinants of Citizen Trust in Public Institutions in Bangladesh

Institutional trust is an essential indicator in the governance mechanism involving citizens’ confidence in public institutions. The article main goal is to shed light on the theoretical insights into the field of trust in public institutions and what determines the degree of citizen trust in public institutions in Bangladesh. Methodologically, the article is a content analysis involving a literature review of vast secondary materials on books, journals, and websites regarding institutional trust which has been used, interpreted, and reinterpreted to validate the arguments. The article presents an analysis that cultural variables have the strongest overall effect on variations in citizens’ trust in public institutions in Bangladesh than institutional or performance variables. Social capital and authoritarianism tend to override the service satisfaction and quality of government variables in determining the trust level in public institutions in Bangladesh.

LAWFARE: COMO INSTRUMENTOS DA DEMOCRACIA SÃOUSADOS CONTRA O PRÓPRIO ESTADO DEMOCRÁTICO DEDIREITO

This article explores the concept of Lawfare and its application as a strategy to weaken democraciesthrough the manipulation of the legal system for political purposes. We analyze how, by substitutingmilitary force with judicial measures, Lawfare aims to delegitimize opponents and neutralize politicalleaders, creating a crisis of confidence in democratic institutions. The research adopts a qualitativeapproach, based on a literature review and case analysis, highlighting the threat that Lawfare poses tothe Rule of Law and democratic integrity. The conclusion points out that the use of Lawfare not onlycompromises justice but also generates a cycle of distrust and social polarization.

The role of government integrity in the impact of environmental taxes on comparative advantage in environmental goods and climate change in emerging markets

The goal of this study is to examine how environmental taxes influence the comparative advantage in environmental products and carbon emissions within emerging economies. To gain a better understanding, we examine whether this impact changes depending on the level of government integrity. This study utilizes panel autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) techniques and a two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) dynamic panel model to ensure accuracy. The results indicate that increased environmental taxes mitigate the comparative advantage in environmental goods for emerging markets. However, for countries with high levels of government integrity, higher environmental taxes enhance their competitive edge in environmental goods. Additionally, our findings show that although a rise in environmental taxes is associated with higher carbon emissions, raising such taxes results in a reduction in carbon emissions for emerging economies with solid government integrity. These findings suggest that robust political institutions are crucial in promoting the comparative advantage of emerging markets in environmental goods and mitigating climate change. In the absence of substantial confidence in political or governmental institutions, the efficient implementation of climate taxes poses considerable challenges. Furthermore, we observe that an increase in the comparative advantage of environmental goods results in a decrease in carbon emissions.

Procedural Justice, Representation, and Institutional Trust in Mexico

Both theoretical and empirical studies suggest that confidence in institutions is crucial for the functioning of democratic political systems and is an important element of the citizen–state relationship. Trust in institutions has been mainly explained in terms of institutional performance or as an extension of interpersonal trust. Using data from the 2020 National Survey of Civic Culture (Encuesta Nacional de Cultura Cívica), we examined the determinants of Mexicans’ trust in two institutions elected via popular vote: Congress and the Presidency. We focus on procedural justice and representation to account for trust in both institutions. We found positive relationships (of different magnitudes) between citizens’ trust in both Congress and the Presidency and the indicators of perceived representation, procedural justice, institutional performance, and interpersonal trust. In addition, we found different and significant effects of party identification on trust levels in both institutions.

The Existence of Supervision by Non-Governmental Organizations in Providing Legal Protection for Consumers with Bad Credit

Convoluted formal procedures have led to a crisis of public confidence in state institutions, this is what happens with bad credit, in fact the public prefers to take bad credit issues to complain to YLKI rather than going to state institutions that handle consumer protection. This research is intended to examine and analyze the role of Indonesian consumer foundations in providing protection to consumers with bad credit. The research method used is normative legal research which is carried out by conducting research, using library materials or secondary data. This research concludes, first, the problem of consumer protection for bad credit is that the public does not have confidence in resolution through consumer protection institutions under state institutions and through legal action in court as a litigation step. The reason is that complicated bureaucracy and the weak response of state institutions to the issue of bad credit have encouraged the public to choose YLKI to advocate for the issue of bad credit. Second, the existence of supervision by non-governmental organizations since 1970 has been able to respond quickly to consumer protection issues, especially regarding bad credit, namely through advocacy to save bad credit consumers who experience arbitrary collections. The problems experienced by YLKI are a lack of budget and the number of human resources that are unable to keep up with the volume of handling advocacy cases such as bad credit issues, causing YLKI to not optimally handle bad credit cases.

Sustainability and impact reporting in US higher education anchor institutions

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to assess how higher education anchor institutions (HEIs) voluntarily report their non-economic impacts. Its goals are to quantify the ease of public access to this information; strengthen the conceptual foundation for HEI impact reporting; and provide guidance for making HEI voluntary disclosures more accessible, comparable and systematic.Design/methodology/approachUsing an exploratory mixed methods design and purposeful sampling, this study analyzed voluntary public disclosures of 41 anchor institution universities in the USA to assess how they communicate their public value creation to stakeholders. Data sources included impact reports, donor reports, annual reports and sustainability reports. The study also analyzed the accessibility of this information by timing how long it took to locate.FindingsThe sampled US anchor institutions communicate their non-economic impact to stakeholders in myriad ways using a variety of formats. Time required to find the reports ranged from 37 to 50 min, with an average of 42.30 min. Disparate reporting formats inhibit comparability.Research limitations/implicationsOnly 41 anchor institutions were examined. The small sample may not be representative of the broader landscape of higher education institutions.Practical implicationsFindings offer guidance for improving voluntary nonfinancial disclosures to increase public confidence in higher education institutions while advancing community and global resilience. To strengthen voluntary disclosure practices, the study recommends using a standardized reporting format, framing HEI impact through socio-ecological resilience indicators, integrating reports and obtaining some form of assurance. These changes would enhance the credibility and comparability of the disclosures.Originality/valueThis research provides some of the first empirical insight into how US higher education anchor institutions report their value creation to the public. Its application of socio-ecological systems theory outlines an actionable conceptual foundation for HEI reporting by linking organizational, community and global resilience.

Trusting others in a divided country: The determinants of social trust in South Africa

AbstractThis study investigates three key determinants of social trust to explain South Africa's social trust deficit: income inequality, confidence in institutions, and racial diversity. Despite the country's racially heterogenous society and segregated history, racial diversity arguments overlook alternative theories on the determinants of low social trust. We instead argue that the decline in social trust in South Africa can be explained by worsening levels of income inequality and declines in institutional trust in recent decades. Using the 2019 South African Reconciliation Barometer citizen survey data, the empirical analysis confirms that South Africans' confidence in institutions and their subjective perceptions of income distribution (or income inequality) have the strongest influence on social trust levels while racial diversity has a negligible effect. This is encouraging for a country with South Africa's racial diversity and troubled history. Instead, efforts to address South Africa's social trust deficit should focus on increasing citizens' confidence in institutions and addressing the high levels of income inequality. However, given the dire state of institutional confidence and income inequality in the country, it remains unlikely that these conditions will improve in the short term.

Understanding confidence in Banks: the role of personal characteristics and Artificial Intelligence

Confidence in banks and financial institutions is a cornerstone of financial stability and economic prosperity. This study investigates the relationship between personal characteristics and confidence in banks, recognizing the pivotal role of trust in shaping individuals' perceptions of financial institutions. Through a mixed-methods approach combining survey techniques and artificial intelligence modelling, we analyse data collected from a representative sample of the university community. Our findings highlight the significant influence of demographic factors such as age, gender and education level on confidence in banks. Moreover, we validate our hypothesis using metrics such as ROC Area and PRC Area, indicating the predictive power of personal characteristics in determining confidence in banks. The sensitivity analysis further elucidates the relative importance of different predictors in shaping confidence levels. The implications of our research extend to policymakers, financial institutions and researchers, offering insights for tailored interventions, customer engagement strategies, and future investigations. By deepening our understanding of the drivers of confidence in banks, this study contributes to the enhancement of financial stability and consumer trust in the banking sector.

Assessment of Russian Learners’ Institutional Confidence for the Vocational Education System

Introduction. An important factor influencing the development and stability of the vocational education system in Russia is the trust of students in educational institutions and policies in the field of vocational education in the country and regions. The purpose of the study is to assess the level of institutional trust exhibited by Russian students to the vocational education system and educational policy implemented at various levels; to develop measures to strengthen it. Materials and Methods. To study the problem, a questionnaire survey was conducted, in which 1,150 students enrolled in higher education programs and 1,150 students enrolled in secondary vocational education programs (2,300 people in total) took part. Educational institutions were located in 48 subjects of the Russian Federation of all federal districts. Generalization of the results and formation of conclusions was carried out by induction method. Results. The average level of institutional trust of students in the Russian vocational education system was revealed; the lowest level of trust is observed in the policy in the field of vocational education at the federal and regional levels. The correlation and regression analysis revealed that the index of trust exhibited by student youth of the Russian Federation to the modern policy in the field of higher and secondary vocational education directly correlates with the level of quality of life of the population and the degree of satisfaction with the qualitative parameters of the educational process. Discussion and Conclusion. The theoretical and methodological provisions developed as a result of the conducted research develop existing approaches and tools for studying the institutional trust of students in the vocational education system. A set of measures has been developed that will increase the academic and social involvement of students in the educational community, the level of satisfaction with the educational process and the justification of educational expectations.

Coverage and determinants of COVID-19 child vaccination in Munich, Germany in October 2022-January 2023: Results of the COVIP-Virenwächter study.

COVID-19 vaccination reduces the risk of severe disease, in children as well as adults. We studied COVID-19 vaccination coverage among children, parental COVID-19 vaccination intent for their children and determinants of vaccination among children to inform communication strategies. We invited parents of children aged 6 months-11 years in Munich, Germany, to an anonymous online survey between 13.10.2022 and 15.01.2023. Parents reported COVID-19 vaccination status and, for unvaccinated children, vaccination intent per child. We determined vaccination coverage (≥ 1 dose) and parental intent, and subsequently used logistic regression to identify determinants of vaccination, including the 5C psychological antecedents of vaccination (confidence, complacency, constraints, calculation, collective responsibility). In total, 339 parents reported on 591 children. Vaccination coverage was 7% (6/86) amongst 6-months-4-year-olds and 59% (295/498) amongst 5-11-year-olds. For unvaccinated 6-months-4-year-olds, 31% of parents reported high, 13% medium, 56% low vaccination intent; for 5-11-year-olds 8% reported high, 20% medium, 71% low intent. Positive determinants of vaccination were older child age, child belonging to a clinically vulnerable group, as well as parental COVID-19 vaccination, higher education level, country of birth Germany, and high level of trust in official guidelines; a negative determinant was previous vaccination refusal. For 5-11-year-olds, additional positive determinants were higher confidence and lower complacency. Conclusion: While a substantial proportion of 5-11-year-olds were vaccinated against COVID-19, coverage was low among 6-months-4-year-olds. Parental vaccination intent for unvaccinated children was low. Vaccination communication should take into account parental socio-demographic characteristics and specifically address individual risks and benefits of child vaccination. What is Known: • COVID-19 vaccination lowers severe disease risk in all ages. • Germany recommends vaccination for 5-11-years-olds since December 2021 and for 6 months-4 year-olds since November 2022. What is New: • In Munich, vaccine uptake was high in 5-11-year-olds but parental intent for not yet vaccinated children was low; the opposite was the case for 6-months-4-year-olds;vaccination determinants were eligibility, parental education, birth country and general vaccination hesitancy; psychological antecedents were confidence and complacency. • Tailored interventions should address guidelines, health literacy, cultural sensitivity, and boost confidence in vaccines and institutions while raising awareness of COVID-19 risks for children.

The Batman and the redemption of first responders: The culmination of a rhetoric of rescue during COVID-19, Trump and protest

The timing of Matt Reeves’s The Batman (2022) situated the film as a symbol of and response to the social troubles that resulted from the political unrest in 2020 and 2021, presenting solution-driven rhetoric amidst the numerous public crises in American discourse and identity. Captured and represented in his opening prologue speech in juxtaposition to his rhetorical culmination speech, Batman’s orations mirror his own arc and the politically prescribed reawakening of confidence in political figures and institutions. Paralleling his addresses, the evolution of Batman’s excessive violence when he initially works under the identity of ‘Vengeance’, compared to his subsequent performance as a first responder at the end of the film, serves as a rhetoric of redemption for first responders. Multiple scenes focus on Batman’s learning to recognize humans’ need for compassion as he becomes a student of social progress. Working as a unifying symbol of a diverse leader, Gotham’s newly elected mayor, Bella Reál, simultaneously offers a vision for transitioning away from leaders associated with racist and sexist discourse. With Batman’s rhetorical culmination and transformation into an emergency rescuer, The Batman serves as unifying verbal and visual discourse in response to contemporary political unrest.

Misinformation and Disinformation: Unravelling the Web of Deceptive Information

In the current digital era, misinformation and deception spread quickly, posing serious problems for civilizations everywhere. Online platforms and social media networks have become a haven for misinformation, which is defined as the unintended distribution of erroneous or inaccurate information, and disinformation, which is the deliberate spread of misleading information with the intent to deceive. This essay examines the subtle distinctions between misinformation and disinformation, highlighting their crucial roles in influencing public opinion and public debate globally. Examining the effects of misinformation and disinformation on people, groups, and democratic processes, the difficulties brought about by the quick dissemination of erroneous information and the decline in public confidence in traditional media and institutions are highlighted. Furthermore, an analysis is conducted on the legal and regulatory frameworks in India and throughout the world that deal with misinformation and disinformation. The analysis identifies important policies and laws that are meant to stop the spread of lies. The paper concludes with suggestions and solutions for dealing with misinformation and disinformation. It emphasises the value of fact-checking programmes, media literacy education, and cooperative efforts between governments, media outlets, and civil society to protect democratic values and advance information integrity in the digital age.

Assessing the impact of institutional mistrust on parental endorsement for COVID-19 vaccination among school communities in San Diego County, California.

Institutional mistrust has weakened COVID-19 mitigation efforts. Assessing to what extent institutional mistrust impacts parental decision making is important in formulating structural efforts for improving future pandemic response. We hypothesized that institutional mistrust is associated with lower parental endorsement for COVID-19 vaccination. We distributed an online survey among parents from schools in areas with high levels of social vulnerability relative to the rest of San Diego County. We defined vaccination endorsement as having a child aged 5 years or older who received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose or being very likely to vaccinate their child aged 6 months-4 years when eligible. Institutional mistrust reflected the level of confidence in institutions using an aggregate score from 11 to 44. We built a multivariable logistic regression model with potential confounding variables. Out of 290 parents in our sample, most were female (87.6%), reported their child as Hispanic/Latino (73.4%), and expressed vaccination endorsement (52.1%). For every one-point increase in mistrust score, there was an 8% reduction in the likelihood of participants endorsing vaccination for their child. Other statistically significant correlates that were positively associated with vaccination endorsement included parent vaccination status, child age, parent age, and Hispanic/Latino ethnicity. Our study further demonstrates how institutional mistrust hinders public response during health emergencies. Our findings also highlight the importance of building confidence in institutions and its downstream effects on pandemic preparedness and public health. One way that institutions can improve their relationship with constituents is through building genuine partnerships with trusted community figures.

Research on Public Confidence in Financial Institutions: Current Problems and Peculiarities of Assessment

In the context of society’s informatization, confidence as an economic factor becomes especially important because of the growing value of information as a resource. Despite this, researchers mostly scatter studies in this field, including those related to assessing confidence. Thus, the paper’s aim is to identify existing scientific gaps in the research of public confidence in financial institutions. The methods used were general scientific methods, including an analysis of Russian and foreign scientific studies. Finally, the authors concluded that a comprehensive approach is necessary to study confidence in financial institutions. This approach should cover a wide range of factors and conditions, allowing for a fuller understanding of this phenomenon and identifying trends in the financial sector development.

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.

The global development of value orientations, political support and democracy since the 1990s

This article analyzes the global development of democracy since the 1990s. The theoretical introduction is followed by a descriptive analysis of several indices of political support based on survey results for 89 countries that participated at least twice in the World Values Survey (WVS) or the European Values Study (EVS). The analysis focuses on emancipative value orientations measured by Welzel's Choice Index and several indicators of political support. The scores of these indicators are broken down by five regime types and seven world regions. The results confirm that the global decline of democratic quality since the mid-2000s has not been as dramatic as the pessimistic analyses of Freedom House and the V-Dem project have claimed. It has primarily taken place in a limited number of populous countries on which these publications have focused. When countries are treated equally, the quality of democracy has remained remarkably stable since the early 1990s. Emancipative values are globally on the rise, but their increase has been considerably higher in the established democracies. This supports the skeptical argument that they cannot be considered as the major cause of the third wave of democratization. The descriptive analysis is complemented by regression analyses for confidence in regime institutions and support for democracy as dependent variables. The evaluation of democratic regime performance is the strongest predictor of confidence in regime institutions. An intrinsic conception of democracy and the importance assigned to living in a democracy have the strongest influence on support for democracy. Emancipative value orientations have a minor influence on political support even in consolidated democracies. Finally, the analysis does not confirm the suspected relationship between the different levels of political support. Easton's theory of political support assumed that they mutually influence each other via a generalization of experiences or an overflow of values. Instead, it seems that confidence in regime institutions and support for democracy follow different cognitive logics.

Pengaruh Literasi Finansial Terhadap Perilaku Pengelolaan Keuangan Siswa Kelas XI SMA Global Islamic Boarding School

This research aims to 1) analyze the level of financial literacy of class XI students at SMA Global Islamic Boarding School and 2) analyze the influence of student financial literacy on financial management behavior in class The type of research used is a quantitative descriptive approach. The subjects in this research were class XI students at SMA Gobal Islamic Boarding School. The sample used was 77 respondents selected using the saturated sampling technique method. Data analysis used in this research uses simple linear regression analysis. The results of the research show 1) the financial literacy level of students at XI SMA Global Islamic Boarding School is at the Sufficent Literate level. where at this level they are grouped based on individuals who have knowledge and confidence in financial institutions and products and services including features, benefits and risks, rights and obligations, but there are still no skills in using financial products and services and 2) financial literacy has a significant effect on the financial management behavior of class XI students at Global Islamic Boarding School.

The attitude of foreign students to healthy life-style and confidence to modern medicine as exemplified by students of Kursk

The article investigates attitude of foreign students to health and a healthy lifestyle. The main practices of maintenance of health and healthy lifestyle are analyzed. The opinions of foreign students related to their health and their modes of dealing with stress in new social cultural conditions are considered. The results of sociological survey carried out in January 2024 covering students of the Kursk State Medical University - foreign students who arrived to receive higher education were chosen as the analysis base. The study established that foreign students more often associate healthy lifestyle with maintenance of mental health, healthy diet and domestic hygiene. At that, considering medicine and physician visits, percentage of respondents attributing these aspects to healthy lifestyle and themselves applying to medical workers is far lower than those giving up bad habits and maintain hygiene. The conclusion is made that it is necessary to increase awareness of foreign students about their rights to receive qualified medical care that will serve as factor increasing confidence in medical institutions and physicians.

The Significance and Practical Path of Integrating Chinese and Western Culture into Ideological and Political Teaching in Colleges and Universities

This article will explore the comparison of Chinese and Western cultures, especially the significance of exploring the origins of cultural differences in ideological and political education, and propose a teaching path for ideological and political education in universities that integrates the comparison of Chinese and Western cultures, including teaching content design, teaching methods and means, as well as evaluation and feedback mechanisms. Through these measures, the goal of teaching ideological and political courses in universities can be better achieved, and students can be trained to become young people with cultural confidence, institutional confidence, and a global perspective.

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.