Trust in and by the public sector

© 2018 selection and editorial matter, Rosalind H. Searle, Ann-Marie I. Nienaber and Sim B. Sitkin; individual chapters, the contributors. Declining trust between citizens and the public sector has been high on the public agenda for quite a while now. Such declining trust and sometimes even increasing distrust has been related to issues such as the emergence of new political parties running on an anti-government sentiment, aggression of citizens towards civil servants, a low attractiveness of public employment, public organizations’ desire to demand ever more proof from citizens when taking decisions, or increased government surveillance. Such evidence of declining trust can be complemented by an almost equally substantial body of evidence of stable or increasing levels of trust. Examples are a desire to involve citizens in public decision-making, an absence of large-scale visible challenging of government decisions, and a move towards less coercive and more collaborative relations between the public sector and citizens.status: publishe