Restoring citizen trust in politicians and government — ideas
This is the third in a series of articles looking at the implications of distrust in government and trust in other people.
The first showed how the UK government was among the least trusted in the world, the second explored potential implications of our high interpersonal trust alongside that distrust — this third article explores what governments can do to restore public trust.
1. “Make trust an explicit objective of public policy”
This was the primary recommendation of the excellent Inter-American Development Bank report on Trust highlighting the serious economic repercussions of citizen distrust in governments and each other. It is an interesting idea — but what would it mean in practice? And how would it avoid falling foul of Goodhart’s Law — which is: “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure"? (I’ll leave that for the next article on Measuring Trust!)
2. Take seriously what it is to be trustworthy and address that
Discussions about restoring trust turn too quickly to communications solutions, based on an assumption that the institution is tragically misunderstood by an ill-informed public. But these assumptions are often wrong because the organisation has failed to scrutinise their own behaviour as a source of distrust.
The 2021 Institute for Public Policy Research report Trust issues: Dealing with distrust in politics proposes trust in government is determined by two factors:
- The performance of government
- The process of government
Let’s start there.
3. Improve the performance of government
The 2020 ‘Global Satisfaction with Democracy Report identifies that ‘…if satisfaction with democracy is now falling across many of the world’s largest mature and emerging democracies… it is not because citizens’ expectations are excessive or unrealistic, but because democratic institutions are falling short of the outcomes that matter most for their legitimacy, including probity in office, upholding the rule of law, responsiveness to public concerns, ensuring economic and financial security, and raising living standards for the larger majority of society.”
The UK has this year had one Prime Minister turfed out of office for ‘lack of probity in office’ and failure to ‘uphold the rule of law’ among other integrity issues and the almost universally unpopular policies of a second one resulting in a collapse in the pound, enforced u-turns on tax rebates for high earners and handing a 33 point poll lead to the opposition. The reasons for this loss of trust map map very neatly on the reasonable expectations of a democracy from the report above.
Covid and the Russian war against Ukraine has made economic and financial security difficult for many nations, but the UK seems to be suffering more than many, partly it is said because of Brexit, and our economic and wellbeing inequalities are among the most stark in the developed economies.
OECD reserch also shows UK citizens are more likely feel disempowered and perceive a serious ‘lack of responsiveness to public concerns’
These ‘outcomes that matter most for their legitimacy’ are great starting point for evaluating trustworthiness. Governments seeking to restore trust should start here.
4. Rethink the process of government
I have been researching trust issues for 5 years now starting with the TIGTech project. Among the seeming chaos of trust research in various branches of psychology, sociology, anthropology, political science and more, I found a remarkable consensus on one aspect — the behavioural qualities which are important for trust (interpreted in the illustration above). These are not just abstract concepts, or academic theories they are deeply rooted in our individual and collective psychology and the fundamental ways our societies work and have evolved.
Purpose/Impact:
This is the belief that a person or institution is not entirely self-centred. For a government this a focus on the public interest and not simply inter-party politics, certain unalienable political ideologies and the immediacy of getting re-elected.
Through the process of governing, citizens have to see evidence of this in the political rhetoric, the actions taken and most importantly the impact on their daily lives.
Openness:
Openness and transparency help increase understanding, demonstrate accountability, prevent and expose wrongdoing and provide ‘evidence of trustworthiness’ to help earn trust.
Effective communication strategies can help restore trust in government — the IDB research shows that better communication about policy goals, along with tracking of their progress and fulfilment had a significant effect on trust, in some cases resulting in material changes like rises in payment of taxes because citizens can see they will be spent wisely and on things they care about.
The OECD has released a comprehensive guide to Effective Public Communication and a mini-doc from my trust research ‘Evidence of Trustworthiness — a new approach to communication’ gives a summary of this approach.
Integrity:
This is about behaving honestly and with probity — the lack of which has been a major cause of distrust in the current UK government. It is connected also to openness — being open and honest about mistakes, rather than trying to ignore them, cover them up, or blame others is of vital importance in demonstrating integrity and earning trust.
Trustworthy governance process shows that governments who take this seriously ensure their integrity and honesty is plain to see.
Inclusion:
UK citizens feel excluded from politics, they are among the least likely to think that national policies would change if the majority of people complained or expressed a view against them, or that the government would adopt opinions expressed in public consultations
All the research I read on trust and government stresses the need for greater citizen inclusion in policy goals, development and delivery. Eg calls for democratic reform , such as changes to our ‘first past the post’ electoral system, or innovations in citizen involvement in decision making. The 2022 OECD report Building Trust to Reinforce Democracy shows the importance of ‘investing in improving mechanisms through which they give all people a voice and are responsive to those voices.’
The OECD study Innovative Citizen Participation and New Democratic Insitutions has over 400 case studies of where citizens shape policy and get involved in decision-making in ways which increase their trust in process and outcomes. My trust mini-doc ‘Nothing about us without us — involving citizens in governance’ provides a summary of some of the key issues and good practice examples.
Inclusion is not just about the way governments see us, but the way we see ourselves. Jon Alexander’s new book Citizens shows what happens when we see ourselves not as merely consumers, which governments and economists often limit us to, but as citizens shaping the way politics is practiced. Perhaps building on our strong interpersonal trust in the UK, a more collaborative and consultative approach to policy could become a standard part of the way government is done and also help earn trust in politicians and governments of every hue?
Fairness
Unfairness and inequality in process and policy outcomes are powerful drivers of distrust. The OECD Trust and Public Policy Report highlights that when “a governance process or outcome is seen as fair it leads to greater acceptance of decisions, better compliance with regulations, and more co-operative behaviour in dealing with agents of the government.”
Fairness in process and equality in outcomes will be a critical factor in restoring trust in the UK government. Lots to do there.
Competence
“Competence is a necessary condition for trust — an actor, whether a business
or a government agency, with good intentions, but without the ability to deliver on expectations cannot be trusted” . The competence of governments in delivering their policies is as important as getting the right policies in the first place. One of the biggest criticism of the current government as I write in October 2022 is that competence, particularly in financial management, was one of their big vote winners. When expectations of core competencies are dashed trust follows.
Respect
Do you trust people who treat you with disrespect? No. Showing respect for others is fundamental to trust. Governments across the world which are seen as caring only for their perpetuation, are dishonest, corrupt and seemingly ignoring the needs, values and concerns of its citizens are treating them with disrespect.
If trust in governments are to be restored, these ‘drivers’ of trust are a great place to start.
The second in this series of articles has some ideas on how distrust of government may actually unite citizens to unite and demand better more trustworthy government. Trust and Companies is the next article in this series, followed by one on Measuring Trust.
