‘Enlightened trust’ could be the key to healthy democracies
Research suggests that trust in governance has fluctuated across EU Member States in recent years, with declining trust in national governments a noteworthy trend. The reasons for how and why trust levels change are complex, occurring within a dense web of relationships. Trust is bestowed by individuals, groups and mass-mediated discourse, while local, regional, national or transnational political actors, administrations and experts are potential recipients. The EnTrust project generated valuable comparative data sets to shed light on the underlying processes that can build or degrade trust. A key finding is that democratic systems function best when a healthy balance between trust and distrust is reached, explains project coordinator Christian Lahusen from the University of Siegen in Germany: “Poorly performing governance systems tilt to the extremes of cultivated mistrust and blind trust. Healthy democracies rely on critically engaged citizens able to genuinely challenge the status quo.”
Exploring regional variation
The project consortium, including seven universities and Civil Society Europe, gathered data from Czechia, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland and Serbia. A population survey with 14 000 respondents across the seven countries captured public opinions about trust in governance. This was complemented by survey experiments to help identify the psychological processes of trust formation, alongside online discussions with citizens, politicians and experts, to explore the impact that aspects of policymaking might have. With trust found to be variable across all countries, respondents were categorised as ‘trusters’, ‘sceptical distrusters’, then ‘cynical distrusters’ associated with populist attitudes and conspiratorial thinking. Overall, northern Europe countries, notably Denmark followed by Germany, were found to have higher, more stable, patterns of political trust, whereas eastern and southern countries (including Greece, Poland and Serbia) showed remarkably lower levels. Trust in political institutions (including in government) was low in all countries, with the highest percentage of those reporting trust identified in Denmark at 62 %, Germany at 56 % and then Czechia at 36 %. Trust in these institutions was lowest in Serbia at 17 %, with Poland at 22 % and Greece at 29 %. Predictably, the highest levels of people reporting cynical distrust were found in Serbia (50 %). “We found these country differences mirrored perceptions of corruption,” says Lahusen. “Strikingly, in Greece 92 % and in Serbia 89 % of respondents saw corruption as very or fairly widespread. In contrast, only 28 % of respondents in Denmark and 52 % in Germany felt the same. Corruption clearly not only destroys trust, but also fuels disenchantment and cynical distrust.” Trust in regional and local governments was higher in all countries (except Serbia) than in national governments or the EU, by around 10 percentage points on average.
How to build trust
To investigate these feelings of trust, EnTrust conducted semi-structured interviews and focus groups, exploring citizen encounters with public administration staff, the dynamics of social movements, and public discourse in mass media. The project found a country’s political culture and quality of governance to be significant factors in trust, alongside citizens’ socio-economic and education background, and any prior civic or political engagement. “But this didn’t hold true for more disadvantaged groups or protest movements, even in the more trusting countries, especially when it comes to dealing with welfare bureaucracy,” adds Ulrike Zschache, project co-coordinator. Against this backdrop of widespread distrust towards public authorities among vulnerable citizens, EnTrust found that positive interactions with frontline workers are key to boosting positive views. “Individual interactions, if empathetic and respectful, can compensate for mistrust grown from negative institutional experiences,” notes Zschache. Regarding institutions, the project’s research highlighted the importance of integrity, transparency and accountability, bolstered by stringent anti-corruption measures, which collectively helps foster what the researchers have called ‘enlightened forms of trust’. “Our findings also suggest that trust is more likely to be earned by genuine opportunities for empowerment, participation and contestation, particularly locally. Symbolic versions breed more mistrust and so are counterproductive,” remarks Lahusen. Dialogue with project participants and stakeholders, including EU institutions, has already led to a series of policy briefs.
Keywords
EnTrust, trust, citizen, civil society, governance, democracies, government, distrust, empowerment
