Trusting politicians and institutions in a multi-level setting

In: Hansen , S W & Kjær , U 2020 , ' Trusting politicians and institutions in a multi-level setting ' , Local Government Review , vol. 6.0 , pp. 14-24 .

Abstract

Trust in government and in politicians is a very crucial prerequisite for democratic processes. This goes not only for the national level of government but also for the regional and local level. We make use of a large-scale survey among citizens in Denmark to evaluate trust in politicians at different levels of government. And we find that trust in local politicians is a somewhat higher than trust in MPs – especially among citizens who are well satisfied with the municipal service delivery. By introducing several municipal level variables in an MLA analysis, it is also found, that very chaotic government formation processes can negatively influence trust in the mayor and the councilors. Reaching out for the local power by being disloyal to one's own party or by breaking deals already made can sometimes secure the mayoralty but it comes with a prize: lower trust among the electorate.