Understanding the causes and consequences of political and institutional trust

Overview

Political trust has been said to have reached crisis levels in many established democracies. Yet, despite the importance of political trust to the functioning of democratic systems we have very little experimental data on what the causes of political trust are. This research project involved administering a number of survey experiments in different countries to better understand the causes and consequences of political and institutional trust. These studies offered insights into how political trust may be improved and how government may enlist trusted cue givers to communicate with citizens in ways that have the potential to enhance the wellbeing of society.

Outcomes / activities

This research played a key role in advancing the use of survey experiments in Australian political science. It increased our understanding of the real world effects of political trust (in Australia and elsewhere) and how some of the negative effects of political trust can be ameliorated.