Trust

1. Trust GOVT311 Lecture 14

2. Legitimacy • Do people recognize the right of the government to rule? • Trust in government provides legitimacy to the government, especially among democratic governments that require the consent of the governed. • Allows elected officials to act • In modern history, trust in democratic government has been a real concern in emerging democracies.

3. What is “trust”? • Support for democratic core values • Support for democratic institutions • Support for other players, such as political parties or elected officials

4. Political efficacy • Can you affect the political process? High Trust Blind loyalty Ideal citizen Low Efficacy High Efficacy Cynical Protesters, militias Low Trust

5. Trust in Federal Government

6. Waste Money “A Lot”

7. Politics is “Too Complicated”

8. How Much Does Government NOT “Listen to the People”

9. “Quite a Few”Government Officials Are Crooked

10. Trust in Federal Government • Trust in Government is related to: • Events (Vietnam, Civil Rights, Watergate, Economy) • Negative news • Government performance • Even with low levels of trust, we haven’t seen a revolution in the United States

11. Support for Core Values • People in the United States generally have overwhelming support for core democratic values • Majority rule, minority rights, freedom of speech, freedom of political dissent • Support becomes mixed when there is a double stimulus: • For example, when a democratic value – freedom to run for office – is asked in terms of allowing a KKK member to run for office, support declines. • At the ballot box, the government has consistently deprived unpopular minorities their civil liberties and rights

12. Democratic Elitism • Those persons most supportive of democratic core values are those that are in positions of power and those that are most knowledgeable about politics. • Was Marx right? Are the masses are duped, and if given the chance would rise up against the established order? • Other researchers have countered the democratic elitism theory to point out that among many issues and core values, there is no difference between elites and the masses. Furthermore, elites have a habit of acting in un-democratic ways, too. • Some have noted that the those with more education may have been socialized to provide the politically correct response, without a true difference in core values.

13. Hibbing: Why People Don’t Like Government • People resent special interest power • Ironically, people don’t want to increase their own power. • Explains why people like term limits and the Supreme Court as checks on power. • Reform Solution: limit the special interests, and the profits government officials can make from them.

14. Consensus • Is there a tension between majority rule and protecting minority rights (The Federalists) • Democracies work best when there is a broad consensus of opinion • Cleavages: ethnicity, religion, language, tribes • Countries that are divided – ethnically, etc. – do not use majority rule • Places with severe conflict: Northern Ireland, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, South Africa • The United States is fortunate in that its cleavages are relatively minor (race, class, religion)

15. The masses act together • Support for democratic values may be conditioned on the times: the most reviled group is most likely to be repressed. Elites respond to the masses and adjust their rhetoric and actions accordingly. • In a similar manner, there must be broad support for repression for it to occur. Do people really try to keep atheists from speaking, or are they simply responding to a question?

16. Psychology • An attempt to explain “abnormal” political thought (against the core democratic values) was initiated after World War II • Is prejudice, distrust, etc. a manifestation of internal personal problems? • People who like authoritarianism had parents who liked to punish them for bad behavior • Is this a society-level problem (Latin-American countries have the “macho” male-dominated society with deference to authority • Link between authoritarian personality and support for racism, racist political parties, etc.

17. Trust in Local Government • People generally trust local government (and the Supreme Court) more than the national government • Why? Interpret Norrander and Wilcox p.297 • Self-interest: homeowners less likely to trust • Minorities: less • Positive retrospective sociotropic: more • Positive efficacy: more • Positive national trust: more • Conservative: less • Community SES: income less, education more • Racial heterogeneity: less

18. Trust in Democracy in Post-Communist Countries • New Democracies: no tradition of democratic government, cannot pick and choose which parts of democracy they like and dislike • From 1991-1998: stable pattern of support for democratic and former communist regimes • Central European countries more supportive of new democratic regimes than former Soviet Union countries • More nostalgia for former communist regimes in former Soviet Union • Surprisingly sizable support (around 20%) for alternatives, such as monarchy • Citizens expect things to improve

19. Transition to Democracy • Creates economic chaos, which reduces support for democracy and positive evaluation of economy. People actually are nostalgic for old economy • Who supports Democracy (in both Central Europe and former Soviet Union): • Those that support old regime, less supportive of new • Those with positive (socio-tropic) evaluations of economy are more supportive • Younger, better educated, church attending people show more support, but only slightly