Sources of local political trust in rural China

Based on a questionnaire survey in five counties of Ya’an Municipality in south-western China, the study reveals a fairly high level of political trust among citizens. The study also confirms the disparate trust in different levels of government known from other studies, i.e. that political trust in the central government is higher than political trust in local governments. The contribution of this research is a fine-grained investigation into the sources of local political trust in the municipality under scrutiny. More precisely, the analysis shows that political trust in local governments is associated with both cultural factors and perceptions of the quality of local government. Particularly, political trust in local governments is strongly influenced by the perception that these governments perform well, are responsive to citizens’ needs, and are free from corruption