Do Public Officials Trust Citizens? A Welfare State Perspective

Abstract

In this exploratory study, we investigate whether public sector officials and non‐public sector officials differ in the trust they have in members of society and whether this difference is associated with the welfare regime in which they work. Using survey data from the sixth round of the European Social Survey, we compare public sector officials' trust to that of non‐public sector officials in 13 countries with four different forms of welfare regimes. Our results demonstrate that public officials have a higher level of trust than non‐public officials do. Furthermore, trust among both public and non‐public sector officials is much higher in social‐democratic regimes, followed by corporatist countries, liberal regimes, Israel (as a unique case) and, lastly, southern European regimes. As expected, public officials' degree of trust reflects the general trends of their societies. Interestingly, in social‐democratic regimes, differences between trust among public and non‐public officials are the highest compared to the other regimes. In addition, an individual‐level analysis in five countries illustrative of each welfare regime indicates that while income, belonging to a minority group, and age are significant factors in explaining public officials' trust, socio‐demographic variables contribute little to the differences between public and non‐public officials. Given the critical role of trust in the functioning of the welfare state, our results imply that further awareness and mechanisms for increasing the degree of trust of citizens among public officials are warranted.

A signaling perspective on bureaucratic encounters: How public officials interpret signals and cues

“…If public sector organizations' adoption of horizontal approaches and other delivery models to which mutual collaboration are central rather than command‐and‐control are to succeed, civil servants and citizen‐clients need to be, at least, willing to trust and be open to each other. The perceptions civil servants have of their citizen‐clients, and vice versa, likely determines the course of an interaction (Van de Walle & Lahat, ). Exploring the categories frontline workers use to define a trustworthy or untrustworthy citizen‐client and the signals and cues they rely upon, is a modest attempt at assessing how civil servants' work practices and perceptions are compatible or incompatible with these policies.…”

“Wish you were here” confianza en la administración pública en Latinoamérica

“…These data allow us to learn about the perceptions that users of public services have of quality, coverage or impartiality in how they are managed or visions of how they believe they should be formulated under a democratic regime but not to trust in the sense that we give here (Guerrero, 2011;Del Campo et al, 2017). Those who study the trust itself prefer to inquire into more direct questions about the institution itself (Bouckaert, 2012;Del Pino, Calzada, & Pulido, 2016;Van De Walle & Lahat, 2016), even though it is difficult to identify if the respondent is thinking in the institution itself (beyond those who occupy it) or is evaluating the current management (Del Tronco, 2012;Güemes, 2016;Llewellyn, Brookes, & Mahon, 2013).…”

“…Trust reduces uncertainty, generates shared senses and, based on that, it further improves chances to cooperate and collaborate. If mutual trust is missing there is no way of envisaging the co-creation of public policies and integration of knowledge, resources and contributions that public governance aspires to (Pollitt, Bouckaert, & Löffler, 2006;Van De Walle & Lahat, 2016;Yang, 2005).…”

Swimming on Land: Some Suggestions for Today’s Public Administration

“…This unique function demands that beyond their professional and managerial expertise, they also share various personal characteristics. Studies have shown that public employees are more trustworthy, publicspirited, motivated to serve the public and altruist than others (Ghorpade et al 2001;Perry 2012;Van de Walle and Lahat 2016). Therefore, suggesting actions that public employees can take seems a useful framework for public administration.…”