Political Trust Research Articles

Essential lessons from an unpromising source: what reformers can learn from the Philippines on corruption control

PurposeCorruption control in the Republic of the Philippines (RP) has hardly failed, but it is not (yet) a success story either. Dramatic “people power” episodes have occurred, but populism has also, at times, led to repression. Still, essential reform lessons are available.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual reassessment of corruption control. Central concerns include the types of corruption experienced in the country, incentives that might sustain collective action, the need to measure both corruption and reform, and linking reform to citizens’ quality of life.FindingsTop-down, whole-country approaches to reform often treat corruption as if it were the same everywhere, thereby emphasizing “best practices”. However, that can be misleading: a best practice in one society might be irrelevant, impossible, or harmful in another. Contemporary reformers must carefully examine the historical, social, economic, and political contexts, as well as the consequences of corruption. Groups and activities seemingly unrelated to corruption control can prove essential. Reformers must fight corruption with people, not for them.Originality/valueThe ultimate goal of reform must be justice: redressing imbalances of power while building social and political trust.

Limitations of trust and legitimacy in blockchain: exploring the effectiveness of decentralisation, immutability and consensus mechanisms in blockchain governance

PurposeThis paper examines to what extent blockchain creates legitimacy and trust in different modes of public governance. It posits that while blockchain aims for political legitimacy through decentralising, immutable and consensus-based mechanisms, the execution of these mechanisms is limited in legitimating governance, which has knock-on effects on trust. It provides an original contribution by recontextualising and reframing blockchain as a governance mechanism that should, and must, perform a legitimating function in order to engender trust.Design/methodology/approachThe research adopts a comprehensive framework for understanding the legitimacy of blockchain governance, positioning it in terms of co-governance, self-governance and hierarchical governance modes. It systematically analyses blockchain whitepapers, legislation, government documents and other sources in three paradigmatic case studies where blockchain governance failed. These cases are then used to assess blockchain according to three key characteristics of decentralisation, immutability and consensus.FindingsThe research finds that blockchain’s use in governance settings still relies on legitimacy conferred from other sources – namely state – in order to generate trust. Significant limitations in its de facto political decentralisation, immutability and consensus protocols can create failures in co-governance, self-governance and hierarchical-governance applications, thus limiting the legitimation function of blockchain in facilitating political trust.Originality/valueThese findings are significant in highlighting blockchain’s limitations as a decentralised, immutable and consensus-driven legitimating tool, which has knock-on effects on trust in technology and governance more broadly. It also has broader implications in more clearly highlighting the interconnectedness of political trust and legitimacy in governance processes.

Empowered Minipublics for Democratic Renewal? Evidence from Three Conjoint Experiments in the United States, Ireland, and Finland

This article investigates the potential of deliberative minipublics to provide a new set of institutions for democratic renewal. Using three preregistered and identical conjoint experiments in the United States, Ireland, and Finland, it first shows that minipublics are moderately attractive institutional innovations, but that in all three country contexts, citizens in general are very reluctant to grant them empowerment and autonomy as well as ask for additional provisions (such as large size or large majorities for recommendations). Subgroup analyses, however, reveal that especially participation in minipublics as well as trust in other citizens as decision-makers in combination with low political trust produces more support for empowered and autonomous minipublics. But what stands out in the empirical analysis is that most citizens want minipublics as additions to the representative system, not as a replacement of the existing democratic infrastructure, as some minipublic advocates have suggested.

Public opposition to fuel taxes in Europe: how important is social disadvantage and how do welfare regimes compare?

Fuel taxes are seen as an important instrument in the fight against climate change, including in the European Green Deal. From a social-ecological policy perspective, it is important to understand current high levels of public opposition to fuel taxes. If social disadvantage is an important driver of opposition, this would strengthen arguments that fuel taxes need to be designed in a fairer way. However, it remains unclear how important social disadvantage – here defined as a combination of low income, fuel poverty risk, low education, low occupational status and job insecurity – is for explaining opposition compared to factors such as political trust and climate change attitudes, and how the role of social disadvantage varies with welfare regimes in Europe. In this article, we examine how strongly social disadvantage is associated with opposition to fuel taxes once political trust and climate change attitudes are controlled for, and we compare results across welfare regimes. The article uses data from the 2016 European Social Survey and employs logistic regression and decomposition analysis. We find that social disadvantage contributes nearly as much to fuel tax opposition as climate change attitudes and political trust together, with 10.9 and 16.6 percentage points respectively. However, the role of social disadvantage varies by welfare regime. It matters most in Southern and Eastern Europe, where opposition is particularly high, as are poverty and inequality. We discuss implications for social-ecological policy strategies that aim to increase public acceptability of fuel taxes in Europe.

Ethnic diversity and political trust at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

Ethnic diversity and political trust at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic

Subjective Well-Being and Corruption in Latin America

This study explores the impact of corruption on subjective well-being in Latin American countries, focusing on Chile, Ecuador, Argentina, Uruguay, Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru during the period 2017-2021. The research examines how perceptions of corruption affect key indicators such as education, health, income, and life satisfaction. Utilizing secondary data from the World Values Survey, a descriptive and explanatory methodology was employed, incorporating statistical analysis and ordinal logistic regression models. Findings reveal a complex relationship between corruption and subjective well-being, indicating that higher levels of education are associated with increased awareness of corruption, while economic stability, political trust, and life satisfaction show varied associations with perceived corruption. The study highlights regional differences and contextual factors influencing these dynamics, providing insights into the multifaceted effects of corruption on human development and overall well-being in Latin American populations. Received: 2 August 2024 / Accepted: 24 September 2024 / Published: 05 November 2024

Cultural Censorship and Institutional Trust in Africa

What are the consequences of cultural censorship on trust? Previous literature on institutional and political trust informs this article which extends the work to consider the importance of artistic spaces for shaping political attitudes. These spaces may allow individuals to form trust relationships with each other. The importance of these cultural spaces is highlighted when, in both democracies and autocracies, we observed cultural censorship. While the rationale for censorship may differ across regime types, some of the effects look strikingly similar. Using survey data from the Afrobarometer and measures of censorship from Varieties of Democracy, this article suggests that trust in executive and legislative institutions among regime supporters is increased, when autocracies engage in cultural censorship. Additionally, this article argues that trust in the ruling party increases and trust in the opposition party decreases with more cultural censorship in both autocracies and democracies. Taken together this descriptive initial test of the theory, consistent with the theory presented, offers additional insights about how authoritarian regimes might use cultural censorship to maintain system support, but also suggest reasons why even democratic regimes can be motivated to engage in censorship for political gain.

A leader I can(not) trust: understanding the path from epistemic trust to political leader choices via dogmatism.

There is growing concern about the impact of declining political trust on democracies. Psychological research has introduced the concept of epistemic (mis)trust as a stable disposition acquired through development, which may influence our sociopolitical engagement. Given trust's prominence in current politics, we examined the relationship between epistemic trust and people's choices of (un)trustworthy political leaders. In two representative samples in the UK and US (N=1096), we tested whether epistemic trust predicts political leader choices through three political dimensions: dogmatism, political trust, and ideology. Although epistemic trust did not directly predict choices of political leaders, it predicted dogmatism and political ideology, which in turn predicted choices of political leaders. A network analysis revealed that epistemic trust and political dimensions only interact through their common connection with dogmatism. These findings suggest that cognitive and affective development may underlie an individual's political ideology and associated beliefs.

Shocks to the System: Electoral Manipulation, Protests and the Evolution of Political Trust in Russia

Abstract How do electoral manipulation and resulting anti-fraud protests influence political trust in non-democratic contexts? I leverage the plausibly exogenous variation in the timing of a series of original surveys fielded on nationally representative samples in Russia to understand the impact of political shocks – particularly allegations of electoral fraud and post-election protests – on the evolution of trust in political institutions and individuals. This study demonstrates that allegations of excessive, blatant electoral fraud decrease trust in the autocrat. However, trust rebounds following attendant post-election protests. Finally, I examine the conditional impacts of fraud and protest on trust, finding that updating occurs primarily among those with weak political affiliation.

Political trust and economic development in European regions

AbstractThis paper examines the complex relationship between political and social trust, government quality, and economic development across 208 regions in the European Union (EU). We use a pooled data generalized structural equation model (GSEM) to show that political trust serves as a fundamental driver of regional economic development in the EU. Political trust is, in turn, influenced by both social trust and government quality. Social trust and government quality have quadratic effects on political trust, showing diminishing returns, while the effect of political trust on economic development is linear. Political trust mediates the relationship between social trust and economic development entirely, while government quality retains a direct relationship with economic development. These findings underscore the fundamental role that political trust plays as a mechanism through which both formal and informal institutions shape regional development.

Procedural inclusiveness can mitigate trust challenges in environmental policymaking

ABSTRACT Decreasing political trust poses severe challenges, particularly in policy domains where solutions to societal problems are urgently needed. The reason is that low trust decreases citizens' support for policy interventions. Since trust is difficult to increase in the short to medium term, this study explores how negative trust effects on policy support could be mitigated through policymaking procedures. We connect literature on policy design processes and trust to argue that involving broader actor coalitions when designing a policy is likely to mitigate the negative trust effect on public policy support. We test this argument with an empirical focus on environmental policy, based on data from a survey experiment in Switzerland (N = 6116). Our study design combines a choice experiment with treatment conditions for procedural inclusiveness and various levels of policy stringency with a novel approach to measuring trust. The main finding is that greater inclusiveness in terms of engaging a broader actor coalition in the policy design process reduces otherwise negative effects of low trust on policy support. The main policy implication is that political trust challenges are not a predicament for failure in addressing urgent societal problems but can be offset by including broad actor coalitions in policy design processes.

Political spillover effects of environmental policy: Evidence from China

This paper explores the causal relationship between automatic environmental monitoring and political trust. We utilize staggered monitoring automation as exogenous shocks to assess the impact on residents' political trust. Our findings reveal a significant and positive effect of monitoring automation on political trust, a factor rarely considered by most existing studies. The mechanism investigation shows that monitoring automation has heightened residents' environmental concerns and increased their expectations regarding the government's role in pollution prevention. This paper offers a pioneering quantitative assessment of feedback from residents due to a specific environmental policy, suggesting that potential spillover effect should be considered.

Does social capital enhance political participation in older adults? Multi-level evidence from the European Quality of Life Survey

This study explored the role of social capital for non-institutionalised and institutionalised political participation among older adults compared to younger age groups using European Quality of Life Survey data (EQLS) from 2016 and 33 countries (n = 36,908). Multilevel logistic regression analysis was employed to assess the association between individual- and country-level social capital and political participation. Findings revealed that, at the individual level, active associational engagement was positively related to both forms of political participation, while social trust and political trust were linked only to non-institutionalised participation—higher social trust and lower political trust were associated with a greater likelihood of participation. Country-level associational engagement was related to non-institutionalised political participation and country-level political trust with institutionalised participation. For older adults, active associational engagement had stronger individual and contextual effects on non-institutionalised political participation. These results enrich our understanding of political engagement in later life and highlight the unexplored potential for civic involvement among older adults.

Political trust and redistribution preferences

ABSTRACT How does political trust influence policy preferences? A large literature posits that trust is vital for supporting governments in managing fundamental societal challenges and investing in long-term policy making. This paper investigates the relationship between political trust and policy preferences, specifically redistribution preferences. Through four pre-registered, original survey experiments conducted over two years in the UK and long-term panel data spanning 19 years in Switzerland, I demonstrate that political trust has an insignificant and negligible impact on individuals’ preferences for redistribution, even when trust is experimentally manipulated under theoretically favourable conditions. By combining two designs with improved causal identification than the existing literature, these results challenge prevailing theories linking political trust and policy preferences and highlight the need for further examination of the complex dynamics between citizens’ attitudes and support for government policy.

Risks of Institutionalization of the Central Asia-China Format for Solidarity and Political Trust in the Shanghai Cooperation Organization

The article considers the risks of institutionalizing the format of the Central Asia-China dialogue («C+C5») for solidarity and mutual political trust within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). According to the documents, institutionalization is aimed at transforming the «C+C5» format into a full-fledged international intergovernmental organization with functions that duplicate the existing ones within the SCO. In the current official documents, Russia declares the importance of SCO development and assigns it a special role in the implementation of the «Turn to the East» Policy, the development of the «Greater Eurasian Partnership », and the deployment of the project of «the North-South International Transport Corridor». In this regard, further institutionalization of the «C+C5» format may create restrictions for the realization of these Russian plans and even for the protection of interests in the Central Asian region (CAR). This circumstance, coupled with the active attempts of the West and the United States to force a number of CAR countries to refuse Russia’s assistance in circumventing the sanctions regime is unlikely to be understood in Moscow. This means that it is necessary to think about the ways to overcome the likely limitations by deepening the dialogue with China on the issues of further development of the SCO and increasing its effectiveness. The plans to institutionalize the «C+C5» format may also cause increased opposition from other major global «players» such as the United States, India, the EU and Japan, which have been actively involved in Central Asian Affairs in recent years, developing formats for dialogue between «1 + C5» (CAR countries).

Building democratic resilience: the impact of political engagement during education on xenophobia and political trust

Building democratic resilience: the impact of political engagement during education on xenophobia and political trust

Cultivating stakeholders’ willingness to participate in sustainable tourism development: A research proposition

This study aims to evaluate the role of community stakeholders in fostering sustainability within tourism development, with a focus on Langkawi, Malaysia. It seeks to propose a comprehensive model that highlights the influence of residents' perceptions (as key stakeholders) of community empowerment, political trust, and place attachment on their support for sustainable tourism. This study proposes a conceptual framework based on stakeholder theory and conducts a thorough examination of stakeholders' perspectives on tourism development, considering both positive and negative impacts. A comprehensive literature review is adopted in this research. The study reveals nuanced insights into stakeholders' attitudes towards tourism development and sustainability. It identifies the intricate interplay between perceptions of community empowerment, political trust, place attachment, and support for sustainable tourism initiatives, contributing to a deeper understanding of the dynamics surrounding sustainable tourism. Findings indicate that positive perceptions of benefits encourage active resident engagement in STD. Practical implications suggest that local authorities, destination managers, and policymakers should prioritize involving residents in tourism planning, building trust, and empowering communities. By addressing both social and environmental concerns, sustainable tourism can ensure long-term success and balance development with conservation. The proposed model lays the groundwork for future empirical analyses to yield meaningful insights for governments and tourism planners, facilitating informed policy-making and decision-making processes regarding residents and tourism development in developing nations.

Citizens’ perceptions of online abuse directed at politicians: Evidence from a survey experiment

AbstractOnline abuse is becoming an increasingly pressing issue for democratic societies. Citizens play an important role in curtailing abuse as they often moderate online content through counter speech and by reporting abusive messages. However, we know little about when citizens actually perceive negative comments directed at politicians as being abusive, and the factors shaping these perceptions are also understudied. In this study, we therefore investigate how citizens perceive criticism, insults, threats and sexist remarks directed at politicians on social media. Based on a survey experiment with 2,000 Danish citizens, we show that citizens’ assessments of the abusiveness of such remarks are not only affected by the content of the messages, but also by political ideology, political trust and gender. Surprisingly, partisanship does not seem to substantively affect perceptions of abuse. Our study provides novel insights into what exactly citizens consider to be abusive behaviour on social media.

Application of Topic Modelling Technology to the Analysis of Social Media Comments in the Context of State Identity Politics Research

In the situation of a shrinking field of public politics and a crisis of political trust, citizens may seek an alternative arena for presenting their own point of view. The social Internet space serves as a virtual projection of public contradictions and acts as an arena for the presentation and confrontation of political interests. At the same time, the increasing state presence in virtual space and the growing trust to online sources of information make social media an important channel for promoting certain patterns of political interpretations. The aim of this paper is to analyse the reactions of social media users to discover their attitudes towards the main narratives of contemporary identity politics of the Russian state. We used the Topic modelling method to study citizens’ reactions to various aspects of state identity politics. The total number of comments in the collected database is 8,023 (09/2022‑09/2023). In almost all the identified topics we can note the polarity of citizens’ opinions, examples of which are given in the article. However, there are a few topics where the users’ opinion is quite consolidated; for example, the image of the Crimean bridge on the cover of new textbooks was widely supported in comments, while the topic of traditional values, on the contrary, evokes negative feelings and shows “public tiredness”. Despite the limitations described in the conclusion of the article, the study demonstrates the high potential of applying the method of topic modelling to the analysis of the reactions of social media users.

Между «ratio» и «irratio»: в поисках оптимальной стратегии изучения доверия в политическом пространстве

The literature on political trust currently continues to be dominated by the cognitive approach, whose adherents perceive trust as a function of political knowledge and social experience. In turn, the psycho-emotional foundations of political trust (personality traits, psychological needs and emotions) are still in the shadow of the cognitive revolution and remain poorly understood. The article attempts to justify the need to study political trust not only as a rational-evaluative construct, but also as a complex psycho-emotional phenomenon that arises at the intersection of cognitive and affective processes occurring at the conscious and subconscious levels. Having consistently analyzed three approaches to understanding the nature of political trust — as knowledge, as heuristics and as affect — the author elaborates his definition of this phenomenon, describing it as a specific psycho-emotional state that accumulates knowledge about objects of political space, emotionally and symbolically significant images of politicians and institutions formed in the process of socialization, as well as the confidence that the expectations arising on this basis will be met to one degree or another in the future. Moving from the conceptual to the empirical level, he examines survey and experimental strategies for distinguishing between cognitive and affective foundations of trust, revealing their possibilities and limitations. The final part of the article outlines potential further directions for research in the field of political trust. According to the author, agent-based modeling is extremely promising in this regard, as it allows looking at the cognitive and affective bases of political trust as a single whole, where cognitive and affective processes are closely interconnected and capable of moving from one state to another.