Contemporary discourses on political trust study have always assumed that there is a direct relationship between trust in government; democratization and effectiveness in governance. However, the gradual decline of political trust has compelled scholars to revise this predominant notion. Reconceptualization of political trust to accommodate the on-going empirical findings has shown its conceptual resiliency. So, the question remains as to how political trust relates to democracy. This paper aims to suggest other developments that are currently overlooked by the traditional political trust studies but will eventually challenge the conventional understanding of the concept. By fostering more in-depth discussion, particular developments are specified; these include the implications of methodological sophistication, current interest in non-democracy or new democracy, and overgrown government institutions. The challenges and future outlook are also briefly discussed. The focus of this review confines to the relevant literature that provides crucial insights into the discussion of similar themes. The selection of published literature draws on databases or online resources in the past 20 years is guided by the application of key concepts such as measurement equivalent, post-communism, and so on. Overall, the resiliency of the political trust concept is found as viable as before, yet the new insights will enrich the multifaceted meaning of political trust concept. This paper offers not a conclusive answer to the challenges, but it set forth intelligibly the need to recognize some critical issues that are beyond the traditional trajectory. It straightens out the need for scholars to be more methodological informed, socio-culturally sensitive, and aware of the complexities of government institutions when researching in the future.
Ariely, G., & Davidov, E. (2011). Can we rate public support for democracy in a comparable way? Cross- national equivalence of democratic attitudes in the World Value Survey. Social Indicators Research, 104(2), 271-286.
Bauer, P. C., & Freitag, M. (2017). Measuring trust. In E. M. Uslaner (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of social and political trust. Oxford University Press.
https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/97801902748 01.001.0001
Bouckaert, G., & Van de Walle, S. (2001). Government performance and trust in government. [Paper presentation]. EGPA Annual Conference 2001, Vaasa, Finland. Instituut voor de Overheid – K.U. Leuven.
Ceka, B. (2013). The causes and consequences of political trust and satisfaction with democracy in Eastern Europe (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database.
Choi, E., & Woo, J. (2016). The origins of political trust in East Asian democracies: Psychological, cultural and institutional arguments. Japanese Journal of Political Science 17(3), 410–426.
Citrin, J., & Stoker, L. (2018). Political Trust in a Cynical Age. Annual Review of Political Science, 21, 49–70.
Dalton, R. J. (2005). The social transformation of trust in government. International Review of Sociology, 15(1), 133-154.
Fisher, J., van Heerde, J., & Tucker, A. (2010). Does one trust judgement fit all? Linking theory and empirics. The British Journal of Politics and International Relations, 12, 161–188.
Gribovskaya, A. (2000). Students’ political trust, efficacy, tolerance and interest in politics and civil learning in Russia (Doctoral dissertation). ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. (UMI No. 9976726).
Hamm, J. A., Smidt, C., & Mayer, R. C. (2019). Understanding the psychological nature and mechanisms of political trust. PLoS ONE 14(5): e0215835. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.
Harteveld, E., Van der Meer, T., & Vries, C.E.D. (2013). In Europe we trust? Exploring three logics of trust in the European Union. European Union Politics, 14(4), 542–65.
Hetherington, M. J. (1998). The political relevance of political trust. The American Political Science Review, 92(4), 791-808.
Hilmer, J. D. (2010). The state of participatory democratic theory. New Political Science, 32(1), 43-63. DOI: 10.1080/07393140903492118
Hooghe, M. (2017). Review of the book Handbook on Political Trust, by S. Zmerli & T. van der Meer]. Journal of Trust Research. DOI:10.1080/21515581.2017.1364481
Hooghe, M., & Kern, A. (2013). Party membership and closeness and the development of trust in political institution: An analysis of the European Social Survey. Party Politics, 21(6), 944-956. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354068813509519
Hooghe, M., & Marien, S. (2013). A comparative analysis of the relation between political trust and forms of political participation in Europe. European Societies, 15(1), 131-152.
Hooghe, M., Marien, S., & Pauwels, T. (2011). Where do distrusting voters turn if there is no viable exit or voice option? The impact of political trust on electoral behaviour in the Belgian Regional Elections of June 2009. Government and Opposition, 46(2), 245–273.
Johnson, T. P. (1998). Approaches to equivalence in cross-cultural and cross-national survey research In J. Harkness (Ed.), Cross-cultural survey equivalence (pp. 1-40). Zentrum für Umfragen, Methoden und Analysen, ZUMA. https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:0168-ssoar-49730-6
Kestilä-Kekkonen, E., & Söderlund, P. (2016). Political trust, individual-level characteristics and institutional performance: Evidence from Finland, 2004–13. Scandinavian Political Studies, 39(2), 138-160.
Kim, S. (2017). Governance Values and Public Trust in Government: An Exploratory Study of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. KDI School of Pub Policy & Management Paper, 17-10. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3103507
Letki, N. (2017). Trust in newly democratic regimes. In E. M. Uslaner (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of social and political trust. Oxford University Press. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/97801 90274801.013.28
Levi M., & Stoker, L. (2000). Political trust and trustworthiness. Annual Review of Political Science, 3, 475–507.
Ma, D. Y., & Yang, F. (2014). Authoritarian orientation and political trust in East Asian societies. East Asia, 31, 323-341. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs12140-014-9217-z
Marien, S., & Hooghe, M. (2011). Does political trust matter? An empirical investigation into the relation between political trust and support for law compliance. European Journal of Political Research, 50, 267–291.
Marozzi, M. (2015). Measuring trust in European public institutions. Social Indicators Research, 123, 879-895.
Merdeka Center. (2020). Perceptions towards economy, leadership and current issues, 15 July – 10 August 2020 [survey report]. Retrieved from https://merdeka.org/v2/download/national-public- opinion-survey-perception-towards-direction-leadership-current-issues-2/#
Merkel, W. (2014). Is there a crisis of democracy? Democratic Theory, 1(2), 11-25. http://dx.doi.org/10. 3167/dt.2014.010202
Mishler, W., & Rose, R. (2001). What are the origins of political trust? Testing institutional and cultural theories in Post-Communist Societies. Comparative Political Studies, 34, 30-62.
Miller, A. H., & Listhaug, O. (1990). Political parties and confidence in government: A comparison of Norway, Sweden and the United States. British Journal of Political Science, 20(3), 357-386. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123400005883
Ministry of Defence. (2020). Defence White Paper: A secure, sovereign and prosperous Malaysia. http://www.mod.gov.my/images/mindef/article/kpp/Defence%20White%20Paper.pdf
Muñoz, J. (2017). Political trust and multilevel government. In S. Zmerli, & van der Meer, T. W. G. (Eds.), Handbook on political trust (pp. 69-88). Edward Elgar Publishing.
National Defence Policy. (2010). Malaysia’s National Defence Policy. https://www.pmo.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/National-Defence-Policy.pdf
Newton, K. (2001). Trust, social capital, civil society, and democracy. International Political Science Review, 22(2), 201–214.
Parker, S. L., Parker, G. R., & Towner, T. L. (2014). Rethinking the meaning and measurement of political trust. In C. Eder, I. C. Mochmann, & M. Quandt (Eds.), Political trust and disenchantment with politics: International perspectives (pp. 59-92). BRILL publisher.
Poznyak, D., Meuleman, B., Abts, K., & Bishop, G. F. (2014). Trust in American government: Longitudinal measurement equivalence in the ANES, 1964–2008. Social Indicators Research, 118(2), 741-758.
Rudolph, T. J. (2009). Political trust, ideology, and public support for tax cuts. Public Opinion Quarterly, 73(1), 144–158.
Rivetti, P., & Cavatorta, F. (2017). Functions of political trust in authoritarian settings. In S. Zmerli, & van der Meer, T. W. G. (Eds.), Handbook on political trust (pp. 53-68). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Schneider, I. (2017). Can we trust measures of political trust? Assessing measurement equivalence in diverse regime types. Social Indicators Research, 133(3), 963-984.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11205-016-1400-8
Seyd, B. (2016). How should we measure political trust? presented at ‘Political Studies Association Annual Conference’, Brighton, 21st-23rd March, 2016.
https://www.psa.ac.uk/sites/default/files/ conference/papers/2016/Paper.v2.pdf
Shi, T. J. (2001). Cultural values and political trust: A comparison of the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. Comparative Politics, 33(4), 401-419.
Tan, S. J., & Tambyah, S. K. (2011). Generalized trust and trust in institutions in Confucian Asia. Social Indicators Research, 103, 357-377.
Torcal, M. (2014). The decline of political trust in Spain and Portugal: Economic performance or political responsiveness? American Behavioral Scientist, 58(12), 1542–1567.
Turper, S., & Aarts, K. (2017). Political trust and sophistication: Taking measurement seriously. Social Indicators Research, 130, 415-434.
Ufen, A. (2020). Clientelist and programmatic factionalism within Malaysian political parties. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs, 00(0), 1–23.
Van de Walle, S., Van Roosbroek, S., & Bouckaert, G. (2008). Trust in the public sector: Is there any evidence for a long-term decline? International Review of Administrative Sciences, 74(1), 47-64.
Van der Meer, T., W., G., & Zmerli, S. (2017). The deeply rooted concern with political trust. In S. Zmerli, & van der Meer, T. W. G. (Eds.), Handbook on political trust (pp. 1-15). Edward Elgar Publishing.
Vilhelmsdóttir, S., & Kristinsson, G. H. (2018). Political trust in Iceland: Performance or politics? Icelandic Review of Politics and Administration, 14(1), 211-234.
Wang, C. C. (2016). Political socialization and change in political trust among mainland Chinese students studying in Taiwan. Japanese Journal of Political Science, 17(4), 527-544.
Wang, C. H. (2013). Causes and consequences of political trust in East Asia (Doctoral dissertation). https://uh-ir.tdl.org/handle/10657/2723
Wang, X. Z. (2017). A literature review of China's public political trust. Journal of Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities, 3(2), 42-47.
Wang, Z. X. (2005). Before the emergence of critical citizens: Economic development and political trust in China. International Review of Sociology, 15(1), 147-163.
Wang, Z. X. (2005b). Political trust in China: Forms and causes. In L. White (Ed.), Legitimacy: Ambiguities of political success or failure in East and Southeast Asia (pp. 113-139). World Scientific Press.
Warren, M. (2018). Trust and democracy. In Uslaner, E.M (ed.) The Oxford handbook of social and political trust, (pp. 75-94). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Yamaoka, R. (2010). The art of governance: Performance, legitimacy, and trust. Y. Hagiwara (Ed.), Democracy and governance for civil society (pp. 29-44). Fukosha Publishing.
Yang, Q., & Tang, W. F. (2010). Exploring the Sources of Institutional Trust in China: Culture, Mobilization, or Performance? Asian Politics and Policy, 2(3), 415-436. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1943-0787.2010.01201.x
Yap, O. F. (2019). How political trust matters in emergent democracies: Evidence from East and Southeast Asia. Journal of Public Policy, 39(2), 295-328.
In-Text Citation: (Hoe et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Hoe, N. W., Adnan, Z. H., & Fee, L. Y. (2021). Political Trust Study: A Review. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(15), 15–26.
Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)
Published by Knowledge Words Publications (www.kwpublications.com)
This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode
