ONLY 45% OF CITIZENS TRUSTED THEIR GOVERNMENT IN 2019

Trust in government is deteriorating in many OECD countries. Lack of trust compromises the willingness of citizens and business to respond to public policies and contribute to a sustainable economic recovery.

WHY TRUST IS IMPORTANT

Trust is the foundation upon which the legitimacy of public institutions is built and is crucial for maintaining social cohesion.

Trust is important for the success of a wide range of public policies that depend on behavioural responses from the public. For example, public trust  leads to greater compliance with regulations and the tax system

Trust is necessary to increase the confidence of investors and consumers.

During all stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, including containment, mitigation and recovery, trust in public institutions is vital for governments’ ability to respond rapidly and to secure citizen support.

Government’s ability to harness public trust as a force out of the crisis will be crucial for planning and  implementing an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 emergency.

The OECD is advancing the measurement of public trust. Through improved evidence, we want to better understand what policies and governance reforms can governments design and implement for restoring and maintaining public trust.

WHAT DRIVES PUBLIC TRUST IN GOVERNMENT? 

OECD evidence shows that government’s values, such as high levels of  integrity, fairness and openness of institutions are strong predictors of public trust. Similarly, government’s competence - its responsiveness and reliability in delivering public services and anticipating new needs - are crucial for boosting trust in institutions.

5 POLICY DIMENSIONS INFLUENCING TRUST IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS

OECD evidence shows that government’s values, such as high levels of  integrity, fairness and openness of institutions are strong predictors of public trust. Similarly, government’s competence - its responsiveness and reliability in delivering public services and anticipating new needs - are crucial for boosting trust in institutions.

BUILDING A NEW PARADIGM FOR PUBLIC TRUST

The breadth and depth of the COVID-19 crisis make it incumbent on the public sector to challenge existing models for measuring trust. To this end we have launched a series of webinars “Building a new paradigm for public trust” to revisit our analytical framework and exchange knowledge on relevant policies and practices, involving civil servants, policy makers, data providers, and researchers.

Webinars:

• Webinar 1: Measuring public trust after a pandemic and economic crises
• Webinar 2: The Ties That Bind: Government Openness As Key Driver Of Trust
• Webinar 3: The Trust Divide: How COVID-19 Exposes the Impact of Inequality on Citizen Confidence in Government
• Webinar 4: Crisis As Engine Of Public Sector Trust: Opportunities For COVID-19 Recovery
• Webinar 5: Trust, Institutions and Resilience: Opportunities for Recovery

See here for further information on this webinar series.

COUNTRY STUDIES

Country studies provide an in-depth analysis of the main drivers of public trust in the country. It offers recommendations for reforming policies and public sector practices for an inclusive recovery and renewed citizens’trust. 

• Korea (2018)
• Finland (2021)
• Norway (2021)

DATA AND RESEARCH

The OECD is contributing to refine measures of trust and its drivers, as well as identifying needs of complementary metrics for cross-country comparisons.

• Governance Statistics in the COVID-19 Era: A Praia City Group Guidance Note
• All you need is trust: Informing the role of government in the COVID-19 context (2020)
• Trust and its determinants: Evidence from the Trustlab experiment (2018)
• The accuracy of measures of institutional trust in household surveys: Evidence from the oecd trust database (2017)