Miwa Nakajo

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Working Papers

Miwa Nakajo. 2015. "Dynamic Relationships Between Trust in National and Local Government and Civic Engagement."

Abstract

This paper aims to explain the dynamic relationships between trust in national and local governments focusing on the effect of civic engagement. The previous literature suggests that each level of trust in government is shaped differently but is related to each other. Additionally, civic engagement is supposed to affect each level of government though the extent of the effect is different between trust in national and local government. Using multiple time-series analyses, I examine these reciprocal relationships between these three variables. The findings are (1) the movement of civic engagement drives those of local political trust but responds to that of national political trust and (2) the movements of trust in national and local governments are reciprocal. Uncovering these relationships gives a clue to understanding how the hierarchical structure of democratic society forms stability.

Nakajo, Miwa. 2014. "How Does Political Trust Affect Electoral Participation and Vote Choices?"

Abstract

Little evidence exists in support of a positive relationship between citizens' political trust and voting participation. This is a puzzle because political trust is associated with political satisfaction, which is one element of the calculus of voting. To solve this puzzle, I clarify the concept of political trust and what citizens decide in an election. A macro-level study in political trust demonstrates that the origins of citizens' trust in government are the amount of civic engagement and their evaluation of government's performance. This leads us to an idea that political trust consists of trust in democratic society and trust in the government in Washington. Because these two components are a determinant of the voter turnout and vote choices, respectively, this reminds us that in an election citizens have two-step choices of whether or not to vote and which candidate to vote for. I argue that the two components of political trust work differently on these two decisions. Modeling a relationship between political trust, voter turnout, and vote choices will elucidate the consequences of political trust. To incorporate two decisions I employ a selection model. The data come from American National Election Studies 2008.