21 different countries reveals varying levels of trust and highlights the importance of factors such as effective government response, transparent communication, and citizen participation in building and maintaining trust. A. Scholarly Definition of Institutional Trust It is essential to recognise that institutional trust is not a unified concept, but can differ across institutions, contexts, and individuals. Institutional trust, according to Warren (1999), is the belief and confidence individuals have in the integrity, dependability, and efficacy of institutions. Individuals' subjective perceptions and expectations that institutions will act in the best interests of the group are emphasised by Tyler (1999). Institutional trust, according to Uslaner (2002), incorporates both cognitive and affective evaluations of institutions' dependability and competence. Hooghe and Quintelier (2013) define it as a multidimensional concept consisting of individuals' optimism and trust in the behaviour of institutions. According to Levi and Stoker (2000), institutional trust is a social attitude characterised by an individual's belief in the competence and beneficence of an institution. The OECD defines trust as "the conviction that another person or institution will conform to one's expectations of positive behaviour" (OECD, 2017). Trust provides assurance that others, be they individuals or institutions, will behave as expected, either in a single action or in a series of actions. Although trust is influenced by actual experience and facts, it is typically a perceptual or interpretive phenomenon (OECD, 2021). The OECD definition is based on over fifty years of academic research in fields including economics, political science, psychology, and sociology (Levi and Stoker, 2000; Norris, 2022). B. Factors affecting institutional trust Trust in institutions is influenced by a multitude of complex and interconnected factors. The influence of economic, social, and environmental factors is possible. Much depends on the national context. Evidence suggests that two interrelated factors, namely economic insecurity and perceptions of poor or corrupt government performance, have substantially contributed to the decline of public trust in countries where it has been most pronounced in recent decades. The provision of economic security is a fundamental responsibility of the state and its institutions and a pillar of the government's social contract with its citizens. When economic insecurity is ubiquitous, confidence in these institutions may erode. Economically secure individuals, that is, high-income, highly educated groups, report higher levels of nstitutional trust than the rest of the population. If no concerted action is taken to address the challenges posed by the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, this pernicious cycle between economic insecurity and mistrust is likely to intensify over the next few years. The public's faith that public institutions serve their and the nation's best interests is further eroded by insufficient government performance, controversies, and malfeasance. I nstitutional trust is considerably lower in countries with high levels of corruption, whereas political trust is positively correlated with government performance. People's engagement and trust in institutions are influenced by the nature of public services, but the direction of causality is ambiguous because levels of trust in institutions may also influence perceptions of the quality of services received. If the government is viewed as trustworthy and believed to enforce the law, safeguard property rights, and maintain stable tax legislation, economic activity and investment can be expected to increase (Knack & Keefer, 1997). Allowing citizens to accept government VARIA RANAH 2023 The Primacy of The Public Service in Restoring Institutional Trust
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