Why Do Voters Lose Trust in Governments? Public Perceptions of Government Honesty and Trustworthiness in Britain 2000–2013

Whiteley, Paul; Clarke, Harold D.; Sanders, David; Stewart, Marianne C.

doi:10.1111/1467-856x.12073

Cited by 62 publications

(50 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…In England, there is a growing political divide between cosmopolitan areas of economic growth and backwaters of decline, but what unites them is a dislike of politicians . In the United Kingdom, several crises have helped to erode public trust in government, including the Iraq War, the MPs' expenses scandal, and recent austerity measures (Koch 2016;Whiteley et al 2015). The alienation from politics, or anti-politics, is often classified as either a demand side or a supply side problem.…”

Section: Risk Society De-politicisation Post-politics and Anti-polmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There are also issues of social justice with regards to fracking. The "desolate" north has been identified as more suitable for fracking and, due to its industrial heritage, likely to be more accepting of the process (Cotton 2017;Webb 2013). Fracking remains contested, and the government in May 2018 suggested that the exploratory process should become part of Permitted Development and the Nationally Significant Infrastructure Projects regime (Clark 2018;Ward 2018).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Risk Society and Anti-Politics in the Fracking Debate

Drake

2018

Social Sciences

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Fracking in the United Kingdom has yet to reach full industrial development, but it is still subject to significant opposition. This study uses Beck's risk society theory and anti-politics to examine the views voiced by opponents to fracking in Yorkshire, England. A qualitative approach was used. Semi-structured interviews with protesters and local newspaper reports were evaluated to provide a thematic analysis. The study drew upon discourse analysis and framing literature to reveal discourses within the interviews. Although there are signs of post-materialist concerns with the environment, these issues did not dominate the discussion. Scientists were not held responsible for the risks involved in fracking. Instead, the economic greediness of politicians and austerity measures were perceived as putting the environment and human health at risk. Interviewees thought fossil fuel energy production was economically advantaged over more sustainable energy and jobs in the low carbon economy. Protesters' trust in politicians had been eroded, but faith in democracy remained. It is argued that the consensual post-politics of risk society have not led to a reinvigoration of democratic debate. Instead anti-politics have taken place, due to the frustration of citizens. Protesters wanted a citizen-led deliberative approach to the concerns raised. Such a process would have to go beyond the consensual, and recognise the inherently agonistic process of democracy if it is to succeed.

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Section: Risk Society De-politicisation Post-politics and Anti-polmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Society and Anti-Politics in the Fracking Debate

Drake

2018

Social Sciences

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“…In England there is a growing political divide between cosmopolitan areas of economic growth and backwaters of decline but what unites them is a dislike of politicians (Jennings and Stoker 2016). In the UK, several crises have helped to erode public trust in government, including the Iraq War, the MPs expenses scandal and recent austerity measures (Koch 2016, Whiteley et al 2015. The alienation from politics or anti-politics is often classified as either a demand side or a supply side problem.…”

Section: Risk Society De-politicisation and Anti-politicsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Risk Society and Anti-Politics in the Fracking Debate

Drake¹

2018

Preprint

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Fracking in the UK has yet to reach full industrial development but it is still subject to significant opposition. This study uses Beck’s Risk Society theory and anti-politics to examine the views voiced by opponents to fracking in Yorkshire, England. A qualitative approach was used; local newspaper reports were evaluated alongside semi-structured interviews with protesters to provide a thematic analysis. Although there are signs of post-materialist concerns with the environment these issues did not dominate the discussion. Scientists were not held responsible for the risks involved in fracking. Instead economic greediness of politicians and austerity measures were perceived as putting the environment and people’s health at risk. Interviewees thought fossil fuel energy production was economically advantaged over more sustainable energy and jobs in the low carbon economy. Protesters’ trust in politicians had been eroded but faith in democracy remained. It is suggested a citizen-led deliberative approach to all the concerns raised, not simply those relating to scientific risk, might achieve some level of resolution over fracking in the UK.

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“…This trend is not unique to Australia, of course. Trust levels are falling internationally [18], [24], however, there have been significant evolutions and variations to traditional Australian democracy therefore. These include government reform agendas, policy developments that place community trust at the centre of implementation [11], the government commission of new communication technologies and blossoming entrepreneurial endeavours into new forms of democracy.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%