Determinants of public trust in government: empirical evidence from urban China
| Author | Dahai Zhao,Wei Hu |
| Date | 01 June 2017 |
| Published date | 01 June 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852315582136 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
2017, Vol. 83(2) 358–377
!The Author(s) 2015
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DOI: 10.1177/0020852315582136
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International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Article
Determinants of public trust in
government: empirical evidence
from urban China
Dahai Zhao
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Wei H u
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Abstract
Several studies suggest that public trust in government in China remains high and
without any trend of decline despite the fact that public trust in government has
declined dramatically in developed countries. This article analyses public trust in gov-
ernment in contemporary urban China with a comprehensive representative survey and
tests the factors associated with public trust in government. Trust in government in
China is found to be much lower than previous studies have indicated. Furthermore, the
variables of citizen satisfaction with the quality of public services, general democracy,
participation in government and the transparency of government are positively asso-
ciated with public trust in government in China at both the city and central level.
In addition, this research also finds that citizens who are younger, more highly educated
and well-paid have a lower probability of trust in government in China. These findings
suggest that maintaining political trust will be a challenge for the Chinese government.
Points for practitioners
The findings in this study suggest that public managers and policymakers in China should
pay full attention to the challenge posed by maintaining public trust in government, and
need to consider formulating specific and feasible measures to enhance public trust
based on the determinants of public trust in government. Moreover, in terms of the
fact that the determinants that make public trust in government decline in developed
countries also affect public trust in government in China, such public managers and
policymakers need to strengthen communication with developed countries to improve
the handling of the common challenge of maintaining public trust in government.
Corresponding author:
Dahai Zhao, School of International and Public Affairs, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Xinjian Building,
No. 1954, Huashan Road, Shanghai (200030), China.
Email: dahaizhao@sjtu.edu.cn
Keywords
central government, critical citizens, democracy, local government, participation,
transparency
Introduction
Public trust is widely seen as an important factor promoting good government in
any political system (Clark and Lee, 2001). Governments enjoying greater public
trust can function more smoothly and effectively than those with less public trust
(Chen and Shi, 2001). Over the past three decades, public trust in government has
declined dramatically in the US (Cooper et al., 2008; Lipset, 1987; Van de Walle
et al., 2008). Public trust has also suffered a severe breakdown across developed
countries, such as Canada, Japan and European countries (Hetherington, 1999;
Kim, 2010; Miller and Listhaug, 1998; Young, 2008). Reversing the decline in
public trust in government based on analysing the related factors connected with
decline in public trust has been the focus of a great deal of theory and research in
the US and other developed countries (Levi and Stoker, 2000; Nye et al., 1997).
In addition, several studies suggest that public trust in China remains high and
without any trend of decline.
1
As they discuss the various factors that are asso-
ciated with public trust in government, these studies have laid a good foundation
for further research on public trust in China. However, most of these studies are
limited to public trust in rural China (Li, 2004; Manion, 2006) or public trust
influenced by one certain factor, such as the media (Chen and Shi, 2001; Shi,
2001). The only study on the topic of public trust in urban China (Chen, 2004;
Chen et al., 1997) is difficult to generalize to all of urban China due to the fact that
it utilized data only from Beijing, which is the capital and political centre of China
(Nathan, 2005).
Most of the aforementioned surveys on public trust in China were conducted
more than 10 years ago. Almost all aspects of China have been changed dramat-
ically due to miraculous economic growth. Several scholars (Inglehart, 1997;
Norris, 1999) argue that long-term economic development can change political
culture and public trust. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out research on
public trust in contemporary China in urban areas; in particular, using a compre-
hensive representative survey. The objective of this research is to learn more about
public trust in government in urban China, to compare findings with previous
studies on public trust in China and to analyse and verify whether the determinants
that make public trust in government decline in developed countries also affect
public trust in government in China.
Literature review and hypotheses
Trust in government is often referred to as confidence in government, or political
trust (Anderson, 2010). According to Thomas (1998), public trust in government
Zhao and Hu 359
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