Abstract
There are three significant factors that have been associated with the lack of the public’s trust towards the government. Political differences are the key contributing factors in which a greater percentage of the opposing party citizens have low trust in the government after their defeat. Negative impacts concerned with the government ruling help increase the public’s lack of trust in the government; these impacts include the decline in economic growth, insecurity, and increased unemployment rates. Lastly, injustice contributes to the low trust in the government, considering certain diverse factors in the country. However, despite the low in the government, there are also essential factors that can help increase trust in the government. Government is a significant contributing factor to this aspect. Definition and the transparent implementation of the government missions and justice in the government contribute to the increment in the public’s trust in the government.
Most important reasons for low public trust in government
There are various reasons through which the public has lowered its trust in the government. Political differences are a key factor in the United States of America that contributes to low public trust in the government. In the United States, it is observed that there are two major parties with an inclusion of the republican and the Democratic party (Newton et al., 2018). In the election period, the citizens are divided by these two parties, and in this period, every citizen gain confidence and trust of his or her supporting party. Only one winner forms the government; based on these factors, the winning party members continue to trust the government. However, low trust or distrust occurs when various citizens supporting the losing party fail to accept the fact that the elected opposing leader has the responsibility of making the government (Citrin & Stoker., 2018). This brings about a lack of trust in the government based on political differences.
An increase in the adverse issues of concern in the country after a certain government resumes leadership promotes low public trust in the government. It is evidenced that factors like a decline in economic growth, increased insecurity factors, and increased unemployment rates in the country make the public lose trust in the government. In most of the campaign manifestos, these leaders make promises to lead the country economically, socially and politically. However, in their leadership, a decline in economic growth or an increase in unemployment forces the public to believe that the government is unworthy to lead the nation towards achieving its goals.
Injustice is another key factor that makes the public to lower trust in the government. In most of cases, the leadership of a certain government is associated with increased instances of injustice. The affected and the victims lose trust in the current government (O’Brien et al., 2019). For example, increased cases of racial discrimination, which is associated with a certain government, make the public lose trust in the concerned government. The government is expected to offer justice despite the diversity and any differential factors.
How the public trust in the government can be increased
There are various factors that can promote an increase in the government’s trust. Definition and transparent implementation of the governmental missions is an essential aspect that can help increase the public’s trust towards the government. Transparency is a key attribute to trust. For instance, if a ruling government defines and implements its missions with the public’s knowledge, factors like the political differences are eliminated, and everyone gets assured that the government is working according to its roles (Grimmelikhuijsen et al., 2018). For instance, a republican supporting citizen witnessing a democratic leader working towards meeting the nation’s missions and objectives will change the political difference views and perspectives and gain trust in the government. In every factor, government ruling in consideration of justice can help augment the people’s trust in the government. A fair and just government ensures that every factor concerning the nation is acted upon despite any differences. It has been observed that the presidents of the United States of America who have worked limiting the aspects of racial discrimination have been regarded among the best (Rivas, 2021). This is similar to the governments working towards the improvement of economic growth. This concludes that perfect ruling by the government increases the public’s trust towards the government.
Conclusion
Conclusively, it is essential to understand that the public distrust of the government is based on various factors like injustice and political injustice. However, the government should understand that it is the contributing factor to a bigger percentage of the citizens losing trust in the government. Hence, it should meet effective justice recommendations to restore and sustain trust.
References
Newton, K., Stolle, D., & Zmerli, S. (2018). Social and political trust. The Oxford handbook of social and political trust, 37, 961-976.
Citrin, J., & Stoker, L. (2018). Political trust in a cynical age. Annual Review of Political Science, 21, 49-70.
O’Brien, T. C., & Tyler, T. R. (2019). Rebuilding trust between police & communities through procedural justice & reconciliation. Behavioral Science & Policy, 5(1), 34-50.
Rivas, R. (2021). Public Trust in Latin American Courts (Doctoral dissertation, The University of Texas at El Paso).
Grimmelikhuijsen, S., John, P., Meijer, A., & Worthy, B. (2018). Do freedom of information laws increase the transparency of government? A replication of a field experiment. Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, 1, 1-10.