Drivers of Trust
Key drivers of (dis)trust:
Key drivers of (dis)trust:
- Disconnect between policymakers/politicians and citizens: Policymakers are far removed from the lived realities of the constituents they are meant to serve. Citizens perceive their governments/politicians as serving private/vested interests, not the public interest, fuelled by evidence of corporate influence, corruption scandals and a lack of accountability for actions and undelivered promises. Public administration systems have poor tools and approaches to gauge societal needs and public expectations and not up to date to deal with current challenges.
- Heightened expectations from government combined with lack of understanding of trade-offs involved in policymaking: There are increasing expectations of government to be more responsive and show spontaneous change. Increasing polarization of political parties, media, and citizens, driven by unprecedented socio-economic and security challenges and (perceptions of) elite capture, and the emergence of political leaders making electoral promises they cannot keep are adding further pressure on policymakers to deliver on public expectations, often pulling in different directions. Trade-offs involved in policy-making are not understood or need to be better communicated and the value of compromise is no longer commonly shared by stakeholders, resulting in new challenges for the government officials in building trust.
- Poor consultation processes: Existing consultation processes are not always adequate - consultations are not inclusive or designed with beneficiaries in mind; tendency to consult at a phase when decisions are already made; no feedback provided on inputs received; lack of coordination/unclear mandates across government agencies.
Key ideas to address drivers of distrust:
Key ideas to address drivers of distrust:
- Go local: Empower local governments to apply open government principles as this is the first interface with government for most citizens. Also, a good bet where space to influence national governments might be (temporarily) limited
- More meaningful engagement - start with asking people about their problems first before proposing solutions; transparency in process, use simple and clear language, make explicit outreach efforts to reach marginalized and intended beneficiaries; focus also diversity and inclusion of government representatives who are consulting; go where citizens are most active and engaged instead of creating new spaces/processes; use meaningful deliberative processes rather than box-ticking approaches; ensure systematic and ongoing engagement rather than one-off consultations; close the feedback loop by responding to inputs, showing results and explaining trade offs; and invest in better tools and monitoring process to demonstrate impact.