Confidence in Australian Institutions 1983–2005

Abstract

This paper examines changes in the level of institutional confidence in Australia between 1983 and 2005. The principal aim of the paper is to disaggregate the general trend in social trust and overall institutional confidence. Using data drawn from three waves of the World Values Survey undertaken in 1983, 1995 and 2005 we examine whether social trust and confidence have declined and the differing patterns of confidence for different birth cohorts in Australia.The results show a significant decrease in social trust and a large decline in confidence between 1983 and 1995. There was little change in confidence between 1995 and 2005, but social trust returned to the 1983 level over that period. A cohort analysis shows that the oldest cohort, those born before WWII, reported the largest decline in confidence, while by 2005 the baby boomers (or middle cohort born between 1944 and 1955) were the most confident, with the oldest group reporting the least confidence. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s confidence has been at a much lower level than in the early 1980s.

Underinsurance as adaptation: Household agency in places of marketisation and financialisation

“…Here, we use ‘underinsurance’ as a descriptor for not having house and/or contents insurance. To map this underinsurance spatially, we began by exploring the relationship between demographic factors and insurance status using questions in the 2015 Australian Survey of Social Attitudes (AuSSA), an omnibus postal survey of Australian adults (Blunsdon, 2016). The 2015 AuSSA used a random sample of names and addresses from the Australian Electoral Roll to generate a sample that was representative of the Australian population.…”

Confidence in Defence and Foreign Policy

“…Research in Australia shows that from the 1990s, there was a resurgence in confidence, albeit from relatively low levels, but again this has not extended past the global financial crisis (Blunsdon and Reed 2010). To some degree, then, Australia represents a deviation from the international trends, which show a consistent pattern of declining confidence.…”

“…One explanation for the increasing levels of confidence in defence is that views have changed within particular social groups. Blunsdon and Reed (2010) argue that generational factors are important, with older generations responding in a different way to particular events when compared to younger generations. Another explanation is partisanship.…”

Changing Citizen Confidence: Orientations towards Political and Social Institutions in Australia, 1983-2010

“…Then the trend appeared to stall (Blunsdon and Reed 2010), an observation that only serves to reinforce the desirability of examining more recent data to identify whether a reversal ensued or the decline continued. Other recent work has examined the connection between perceptions of corruption and a limited set of items on confidence, without directly addressing this question (McAllister 2014).…”

“…The above literature would suggest that it may have been difficult for them to do so. The significance of institutional confidence as an indicator of democratic resilience is such that an ongoing decline could have negative consequences for the future of democracy and the functioning of society (Papadakis 1999;Blunsdon and Reed 2010).…”