Earning Trust in Public Institutions
We recently read an interesting post on the inCommon blog run by our partners at the Davenport Institute – an NCDD organizational member – about trust’s relationship to engagement. You can read the post below or find the original here, and we also recommend you take a look at the study on trust the post refers to.
The Rand Europe Spotlight on 2013 is a bit broad, but the theme, “Building Trust in Policymaking,” is certainly relevant to civic engagement:
The relationship between citizens and public bodies relies on trust: we trust them to make good decisions on our behalf and implement them well. But public faith has been severely shaken in recent years. A global barometer of trust in institutions found that only 48 percent of people trust governments to do what is right, and that only 16 percent trust them a great deal…
The projects featured this year highlight three different ways in which policymakers can gain trust:
- Working across boundaries to anticipate new strategic challenges.
- Using robust methodologies to ensure that policy is grounded in sound evidence.
- Providing effective, adaptive local delivery. (3)
Two sections are especially relevant to public servants in local government. One is “Grounding Policy in Evidence”:
Tight budgets, rising expectations and greater focus on accountability all add to the pressure on policymakers to show that their decisions are informed by sound evidence – whilst also addressing local needs, values and agendas.
But what constitutes evidence? While the tide of information increases daily, public [skepticism] of official figures is also high. Timeliness, relevance and data integrity are essential to build trust and refute the old charge of: ‘Lies, damned lies and statistics.’ (15)
The other is “Earning Trust at Delivery”:
At an individual or community level, all policy is personal. Whether policies are delivered directly by central government or local authorities, or through private or third-sector providers, good relationships are essential. Trust is created by getting the details right for successful local implementation. (23)
You can download the e-book at the Rand website here.
You can find the original version of this post at www.publicpolicy.pepperdine.edu/davenport-institute/incommon/index.php/2014/02/europe-spotlight-trust.
