Colloquy with Steven Van de Walle on trust in Public Administration

Abstract

This interview with Professor Steven Van de Walle was framed by the fact that it was conducted during the lockdown caused by COVID-19, a crisis that has shown a globally shared vulnerability and that might be challenging the trustworthiness of governments. The talk starts at a conceptual level, looking at what trust in Public Administration is about. There follows an exploration of the sources of trust. Van de Walle deploys a typology to illustrate how information, rational calculus and emotions might shape a person’s judgement about whether to trust. Based on recent research evidence from cross-country comparative data, he elaborates on the issue of what matters the most for citizens when deciding to trust. He deals with several relevant current debates regarding communication research and practice: the gap between real and perceived performance, the relation to post-truth, the impact of transparency, and the challenge of dealing with distrustful citizens. One major topic is how to measure trust: methods, research designs, available data, and current challenges. He also makes some comparative considerations between trust in Public Administration and trust in other organizations such as the Church and NGOs. The final part of the interview is a reflection about how COVID-19 might be affecting citizens’ trust in government.