Trust-Based Public Management : Conceptualization and lessons from the Swedish trust reform

Following years of increasing bureaucracy and micro-management, there is a need for more trust in the judgement of street-level professionals and citizens in the public administration. After an intense debate in Sweden for several years, the Swedish Government launched a trust reform in 2016. This was organized around a government commission, called the Trust Commission. At the centre of its work in the main assignment was 12 research projects. This chapter explains the theoretical underpinnings of the concept Trust-Based Public Management and summarizes the lessons from the 12 research projects included in the Swedish trust reform, where I was Head of Research