Fairness is crucial for trust in government

With flags hanging upside down all over the country, trust in politics seems to have reached an all-time low. The nitrogen crisis, along with the housing crisis, problems around asylum housing, the settlement of the benefits affair, the Covid-19 crisis and the Groningen earthquake damage, are all major challenges for the government's reputation. But: How much trust do the Dutch really have in their political institutions? And to what extent is that trust or distrust based on the government's performance? Research by Utrecht University shows that the Dutch are frugal with their trust in political institutions (an average score of six out of 10), and that trust fluctuates with major political developments in the country. If, for example, people are dissatisfied with the lengthy formation process of the government, their trust declines. On the other hand, it can rise if people are satisfied with the state of the economy, for example. The researchers do observe an increasing polarisation in political trust and emphasise that it is up to political leaders to improve the reputation of the government as reliable and fair. Because it is the reliability of the government that is decisive for political trust, says project leader  Lisanne de Blok.