What drives trust in collaborative governance? Analysis of a governmental programme in the Basque Country

Abstract

Collaborative governance constitutes an aspiration in both the study and practice of public management. In this endeavour, trust is an intangible resource that gets of special relevance, because it is assumed that in order to foster the participation of different actors in public policies it is necessary to acknowledge the value of their contributions. While the literature on citizen trust on collaborative government programs is large, works about both intra-organizational trust (between politicians and civil servants) and inter-organizational trust (from the latter to societal organizations) are scarce. This article explores the dynamics of trust between actors (politicians, civil servants and citizens) who participate in a governmental program of collaborative governance (Etorkizuna Eraikiz, Diputación Foral de Gipuzkoa), and it focuses on the sources or drivers of trust. Based on the grounded theory for the thematic analysis of in depth semi-structured interviews with actors involved in the program (politicians, civil servants and civil organizations), the article explores the sources and drivers of trust by applying a typology that distinguishes formal sources (structures and rules) from informal ones (interactions). The analysis reveals that the spaces of interaction created by collaboration develop normative frameworks with strongly shared values that suggest the existence of some typical group orientation leading to trust. Based on these findings, some challenges are identified for the advancement of the study and practice of collaborative governance