www.qog.pol.gu.se

Bo Rothstein

The Quality of Government Institute

Department of Political Science

University of Gothenburg

Trust in Government:

What it is?

How to measure?

What can be done?

www.qog.pol.gu.se

The EU Regional Surveys of Quality of

Government

First round in 2008, 34,000 respondents in 172

regions in 18 countries

Second round in 2012, 84,000 respondents in 184

regiions 25 countries. Total interviews 118,000

Detailed questions about personal experiences &

perceptions of QoG for education, health care and

police

www.qog.pol.gu.se

www.qog.pol.gu.se

Capturing the Quality of Government

Questions about bribes and quality of services but also

about other ways that impartiality is breached. For example

• The police force gives special advantages to certain people in my area.”

• “All citizens are treated equally by the police force in my area”

• ‘All citizens are treated equally in the public education system in my area’

• ‘All citizens are treated equally in the public health care system in my area’

www.qog.pol.gu.se

One Result from the European QoG Surveys

• In countries where a large majority percieve the

authorities as corrupt, only a small minority

report having been asked to pay a bribe

• Bribes seem to be the minor problem for what

people in general define as corruption

• Instead, it is various forms of favoritism in the

implementation of public services that people

define a corruption

www.qog.pol.gu.se

QoG and Social Trust

• Low levels of QoG turn out to have very strong

negative impact on social trust even controlling

for

• Ineguality

• Ethnic Diversity

• Participation in voluntary associations

• The Political environment

• Demographic (individual) variables

www.qog.pol.gu.se

www.qog.pol.gu.se

The EQI

A composite index based

on 16 QoG survey

questions from 2009-2010.

Round 2 happening now.

www.qog.pol.gu.se

What is Trust in Government?

• Important to differentiate between trust in the public

adminstration (including the legal system) and the

elected parts of ”the government

• Huge differences in the data between if people trust

elected officials or appointed officials

• In Sweden, confidence in appointed officials have for

long been higher than for elected officials

• The ”home team” effect. Partisanship versus

impartiality

www.qog.pol.gu.se

What can be done to strenghten QoG?

1. Free universal education

2. Universal social services/insurance systems

3. Fairness (impartiality) in the implementation

of public policies

4. Merit based recruitment and promotion to

the civil service

5. Gender equality