Public officials’ trust in citizens: a review of the literature

Koen Migchelbrink and Steven Van de Walle

Chapter 21 in Handbook on Trust in Public Governance, 2025, pp 344-358 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Public officials’ trust in citizens can play an important role in good governance practices and high-quality service delivery. However, bureaucratic systems are generally not based on trust, and public officials are trained not to trust citizens too much. Can residents be relied upon to show up on time, to honestly provide requested information, and to help officials provide services? In this chapter, we take a closer look at the factors that help explain why public officials trust or distrust the citizens they serve. We review the empirical public administration literature on individual, organizational, contextual, and interactive determinants of public officials’ trust in citizens and their perceptions of citizens’ trustworthiness. We end our chapter by pointing out suggestions for further research.

Keywords: Public officials; Trustworthiness; Citizen-state interactions; Systematic literature review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781802201390
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