HLEG thematic workshop on Measuring Trust and Social Capital, 10 June 2016, Paris, France. More information at: www.oecd.org/statistics/measuring-economic-social-progress/hleg-workshop-on-measuring-trust-and-social-capital-2016.htm

1. Measuring alternative correlates of
trust in institutions:
political fairness vs. social equality
Mónica Ferrín Pereira
Workshop on Measuring Trust and Social Capital
Sciences Po – HLEG on Measurement of Economic Performance
and Social Progress

2. Trust in institutions within the frame of
ESS Round 6
Round 6 of the European Social Survey on ‘Citizens’ Understandings
and Evaluations of Democracy
Focus on Europeans’ support for democracy in the light of the
‘crisis’ of democracy
Trust in institutions as a basic ingredient of support for democracy
ESS Round 6 helps to:
- better understand what trust in institutions ‘means’
- investigate what matters most for citizens’ trust (different
individuals and different contexts)

3. A few notes to start with
ESS round 6 includes 22 OECD countries + 7 non-OECD
Two alternative measures of ESS round 6:
1) Satisfaction with government:
Now thinking about the [country] government, how satisfied are
you with the way it is doing its job? (Please use this card, where 0
means extremely dissatisfied and 10 means extremely satisfied)
2) Trust in institutions:
Using this card, please tell me on a score of 0-10 how much you
personally trust each of the institutions I read out. 0 means you do
not trust an institution at all, and 10 means you have complete trust.
The [country’s] parliament
The legal system

4. Trust in and satisfaction with government
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
CH NO DE UK HU FR PL ES PT
2012 2008-2012 2002-2012
Satisfaction with government in 2012 & change since 2002/8Confidence in government in 2014 & change since 2007
Source: ESS 2002-2012
http://www.oecd.org/gov/trust-in-
government.htm

5. Satisfaction with government & democracy

6. & Trust in Parliament

7. Ideal & reality
Increasing discontent with democracy, why?
Mismatch between what people demand and
what they get
New measures:
Importance
How democracy should be?
Evaluations
How democracy is?
Of many different
attributes of
democracy

8. Importance
Using this card, please tell me how important
you think it is for democracy in general...
that national elections are free and fair

9. Evaluations
Using this card, please tell me to what extent
you think each of the following statements
applies in [country].
National elections in [country] are free and fair

10. Importance
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%

11. Evaluations
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

12. Importance by country
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
equality of
law
fair elections transparency reliable
media
vertical
account
minority
rights
opposition
free
media free alternative
parties
NO DE IT FR

13. Importance by country
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
protection poverty equal income participation decisions
NO DE IT FR

14. Importance by country

15. Evaluation by country
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
equality of
law
fair elections transparency reliable media vertical
account
minority
rights
opposition
free
media free alternative
parties
NO DE IT FR

16. Evaluation by country
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
protection poverty equal income participation decisions
NO DE IT FR

17. Evaluation by country

18. Trust & evaluations: correlations
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6
deliberation
opposition free
media free
media reliable
vertical account
minority rights
participation decisions
alternative parties
fair elections
equal law
protection poverty
equal income
transparency
Satisfaction with government Trust in legal system Trust in parliament

19. Trust & importance & evaluations
.31.32.33.34.35.36
0/9 10/Extr
Importance of transparency
Marginal effect of Transparency on Satisfaction with government
.28
.3
.32.34.36
0/9 10/Ext
Importance of protection of poverty
Marginal Effects of poverty on Satisfaction with government

20. Trust & importance & evaluations
.3
0/9 10/Extr
Importance of equal law
Marginal Effects of equal law on Trust in Parliament
.24.25.26.27.28.29
0 1
Importance of protection of poverty
Marginal Effects of poverty on Trust in Parliament

21. .22.24.26.28
.3
West East South
Marginal Effects of equal law on Satisfaction with government
Trust & eval. political fairness & country

22. .25
.3
.35
.4
.45
West East South
Marginal Effects of poverty on Satisfaction with Government
Trust & eval. social equality & country

23. .25.26.27.28.29
West East South
Marginal Effects of equal law on Trust in Parliament
Trust & eval. political fairness & country

24. .2
.25
.3
.35
West East South
Marginal Effects of poverty on Trust in Parliament
Trust & eval. social equality & country

25. Summarizing
- Trust as a mix of evaluations and importance
- Trust as a mix of political fairness & social
equality
- Correlates of trust different across countries

26. Thank you!

27. Democracy: a multidimensional concept
ELECTORAL/DEMOCRATIC DIMENSION
Competition
Free and fair elections
Differentiated offer by parties
Parties free to criticize
Vertical accountability
Retrospective accountability
Justification by government
Deliberation Participation in political discussion
Responsiveness Responsibility to other EU governments
LIBERAL DIMENSION
Rule of law Equality before the law
Horizontal accountability Checks and balances (courts)
Minority rights Protection of minority rights
Freedom of press
Press freedom
Media reliability

28. Democracy: a multidimensional concept
SOCIAL DIMENSION
Social Justice
Protection against poverty
Reduction income differences
PARTICIPATORY DIMENSION
Direct participation Participation in referendum
INCLUSIVENESS DIMENSION
Inclusiveness
Inclusiveness of participation rights
(migrants)
TYPE OF REPRESENTATION DIMENSION
Type of representation Majority vs. proportional