Trust in Government in Times of Crisis: A Quasi-Experiment During the Two World Wars

Ahmed Skali and David Stadelmann

CREMA Working Paper Series from Center for Research in Economics, Management and the Arts (CREMA)

Abstract: Do crises erode trust in government? To answer this question, we leverage the quasi-experimental setting of the sharply increased military threat to the neutral county of Switzerland during the two world wars as an exogenous shock. In doing so, we exploit a unique feature of Swiss politics: government issuance of pre-referenda voting recommendations. We use constitu ent adherence to government recommendations as a behaviour al proxy for trus t in government, measured in real time prior to, duri ng, and after the crisis. Our difference-in- differences estimates provide strong evidence that constituents are significantly less likely to follow governmental voting recommendations during wartime.

Keywords: Trust in Government; Crisis; WWII; World War II; Referenda; Switzerland (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D72 D74 H56 H79 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019-05
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-pol
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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