PUBLIC POLICIES AND CRISIS OF CONFIDENCE : AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF THE NIGERIAN STATE

People's confidence in policies ofgovernment no doubt, serves as a cata lyst for national development in any society because of their support for such policies at implementation. Where crisis of confidence in polices of government emanate, it becomes a serious problem because without the support of the people, no matter how good intentioned policies and programmes of government may be, it cannot achieve its goals. and development is hindered in that society. This paper therefore analysed the causes of crisis of confidence in government polices in Nigeria. The Z- test population proportion (two samples) with a 95% confidence level was used for the analysis. The study showed that for development to take place in any society, so that the implementation of such policies that has the ability of enhancing the living standard of the people can materialise. Government therefore, must take into consideration the reactions of the people when formulating a policy. When this is done, it will enhance the support of the people for government policies