Webinar in June 2023

Measuring Public Trust and Trustworthiness in Public Opinion Research (June 21, 2023)

Political trust has long been regarded as an important element of regime support and factor of regime stability. On the other hand, while democracies essentially rely on the consent and support of those governed, a critically engaged citizenship that is able to hold the government accountable on key issues is the prerequisite to the efficiency and durability of the democratic regime. This suggests that political trust is, in fact, a multi-facet concept: depending on if driven by rationality, blind compliance or unjustified, cynical criticism, political trust can have both positive and negative implications for the development of the political system. The multidimensionality of political trust poses a challenge to its measurement, amid the growing importance of informed, evidence-based policymaking.