I am a political scientist at the University of Kent, where I teach courses on political behaviour and public opinion.
My research focuses on public opinion, particularly mass orientations towards government, political or institutional trust, and attitudes towards democracy and democratic processes. My most recent book - Trust: How Citizens View Political Institutions - was published by Oxford University Press in 2024 . I have also conducted research on electoral choice, political participation and the nature and effects of political institutions.
I am an Associate Editor at the Journal of Trust Research.
Contact details
School of Politics and International Relations
University of Kent
Canterbury CT2 7NX
Tel: 01227 827523
Email: B.J.Seyd@kent.ac.uk
Photo: Stanage Edge, Peak District
New report on trade-offs in people's evaluations of welfare benefits
A report on Trade-offs in Bureaucratic Justice has been published (Sept 2025)
Blogpost on declining trust and democracy
Blog on the link between declining trust and popular support for democracy (Jun 2025)
Blogpost on trust and public sector abuse
Blog on trends in trust and rising public abuse of frontline service providers (Mar 2025)
Paper on the crisis of political trust in Britain
A paper on whether Britain is facing a crisis of political trust has been published in Political Insight (Dec 2024).
New report on people's judgements about the UK welfare system
A report on Bureaucratic Justice in Universal Credit has been published (Oct 2024).
Paper on sources of information about COVID-19
A paper on people's trust in different sources of information has been published in Parliamentary Affairs (Sept 2024).
Teaching on GovTrust Summer School
My slides for this summer school on trust, Antwerp (August 2024).
New blogpost on the implications of the decline in political trust
'Low trust in government might not be that dangerous' (June 2024)
Paper on public trust in scientists
A paper on how people appraise trust in scientists has been published in Public Understanding of Science (June 2024)