Building Faith in Democracy: Deliberative Events, Political Trust and Efficacy
| Date | 01 February 2019 |
| Published date | 01 February 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0032321718761466 |
| Author | Shelley Boulianne |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321718761466
Political Studies
2019, Vol. 67(1) 4 –30
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0032321718761466
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https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321718761466
Political Studies
2019, Vol. 67(1) 4 –30
© The Author(s) 2018
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DOI: 10.1177/0032321718761466
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Building Faith in Democracy:
Deliberative Events, Political
Trust and Efficacy
Shelley Boulianne
Abstract
Governments have turned to public deliberation as a way to engage citizens in governance with
the goal of rebuilding faith in government institutions and authority as well as to provide quality
inputs into governance. This article offers a systematic analysis of the literature on the effects of
deliberative events on participants’ political efficacy and trust. The systematic review contextualizes
the results from a 6-day deliberative event. This case study is distinctive in highlighting the long-
term impacts on participants’ political trust and efficacy as key outcomes of the deliberative process
unfold, that is, City Council receives then responds to the participants’ recommendations report.
Using four-wave panel data spanning 2.5 years and three public opinion polls (control groups),
the study demonstrates that participants in deliberative events are more efficacious and trusting
prior to and after the deliberative event. Despite the case study’s evidence and the systematic
review of existing literature, questions remain about whether enhanced opportunities for citizen
engagement in governance can ameliorate low levels of political trust and efficacy observed in
Western democracies.
Keywords
deliberative democracy, political trust, political efficacy, political participation
Accepted: 1 February 2018
Introduction
Democratic institutions are faced with a crisis of legitimacy. This crisis affects govern-
ment’s ability to create and enforce policies and laws to govern the lives of citizens
(Dalton, 2004; Levi and Stoker, 2000; Marien and Hooghe, 2011; Norris, 2011). This
crisis is most evident in growing levels of distrust of government institutions and authori-
ties (Fournier et al., 2011; Holbrook, 2004; Levi and Stoker, 2000; Pew Research Center,
2017). While some dispute these trends (Thomassen and Van Ham, 2017), they
acknowledge a gap between citizens’ expectations for democratic governance and their
Department of Sociology, MacEwan University, Edmonton, AB, Canada
Corresponding author:
Shelley Boulianne, Department of Sociology, MacEwan University, Room 6-398, City Centre Campus, 10700
– 104 Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5J 4S2, Canada.
Email: sjboulianne@gmail.com
761466PSX0010.1177/0032321718761466Political StudiesBoulianne
research-article2018
Article
Boulianne 5
satisfaction with the performance of democratic systems (Norris, 2011). In this context,
some governments have turned to public deliberation as a way to engage citizens in gov-
ernance with the goal of rebuilding faith in government institutions and authority (Marien
and Kern, 2017; Spada and Ryan, 2017) as well as to provide quality inputs into the
decision-making process (French and Laver, 2009). Deliberative events are thought to be
one way to deepen citizens’ involvement in governance (Wright, 2010).
Deliberative events are not a panacea for the flaws in representative democracy, and
given the small scale of these initiatives, their impacts on the broader political system may
be limited (Lafont, 2015; Warren, 2008). One study suggests that hearing about delibera-
tive events increased political efficacy and trust among respondents to a random digit dial-
ling survey (Boulianne, 2018a). Including citizens in the decision-making process may
increase the participants’ perceived legitimacy of the democratic system (Grönlund et al.,
2010; Halvorsen, 2003; Strandberg and Grönlund, 2012; Warren, 1992). However, this
process may also have detrimental effects on legitimacy, if the input is perceived to have
no influence on decision-makers (Halvorsen, 2003). In sum, in the short term, participation
in a deliberative event could positively impact faith in government institutions, but the
long-term impact may depend on decision-makers’ responses to this input.
This article explores the role of political trust and efficacy in a public deliberation held
in Edmonton, Canada, in Fall 2012 (n = 55). The distinctiveness of this event and its
methodological design are illustrated through a systematic review of existing research on
the effects of deliberative events on political trust and efficacy. Using four-wave longitu-
dinal survey data of participants and three cross-sectional surveys (control groups), I
examine the following questions: How do political trust and efficacy impact the decision
to participate in a deliberative event and how does the deliberative event impact political
trust and efficacy? This study is distinctive in highlighting the long-term impacts on par-
ticipants’ political trust and efficacy as key outcomes of the deliberative process unfold.
Over 2.5 years, political trust and efficacy are tracked as the deliberative event concludes,
as a recommendations report is presented to City Council (April 2013), and when City
Council issues a formal policy response related to the panellists’ recommendations (April
2015). The case study is distinctive in its linkage to the policy-making process and the
intensity of the deliberative process (six Saturdays). These distinctive characteristics are
critical to understanding how deliberative events impact faith in democratic systems in
the short and long term.
Literature Review
Political Trust
I see trust as an issue of whether particular political actors or institutions are expected to
act in citizens’ best interests (Holbrook, 2004). Trust is based on expectations about
future behaviour, which relate to, but are distinct from, assessments of past behaviour,
which are assessed with survey questions about performance, efficiency, and satisfaction
(Holbrook, 2004). Political trust is an expectation that government will do ‘what’s right’
(American National Election Studies, 2015; Munno and Nabatchi, 2014; Pew Research
Center, 2017). Political trust is a multi-dimensional concept. Individuals may differ in
their trust of political actors (e.g. civil servants versus local politicians versus party lead-
ers) compared to institutions. Trust levels may differ based on levels of government as
well as the branches of government (Cole et al., 2004; Gallup, 2013; Hetherington and
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