Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter?
The ability of governments and nations to handle crises and protect the lives of citizens is heavily dependent on the public’s trust in their governments and related social institutions. The aim of the present research was to understand public trust in government during a time of crisis, drawing on...
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Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 |
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crplos:10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 2024-06-09T07:46:01+00:00 Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? Herati, Hoda Burns, Kathleen E. Nascimento, Maria Brown, Patrick Calnan, Michael Dubé, Ève Ward, Paul R. Filice, Eric Rotolo, Bobbi Ike, Nnenna Meyer, Samantha B. Lund, Emily Canadian Institutes of Health Research SSHRC Insight Development Grant 2023 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 en eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ PLOS ONE volume 18, issue 9, page e0290664 ISSN 1932-6203 journal-article 2023 crplos https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 2024-05-14T13:09:02Z The ability of governments and nations to handle crises and protect the lives of citizens is heavily dependent on the public’s trust in their governments and related social institutions. The aim of the present research was to understand public trust in government during a time of crisis, drawing on interview data (N = 56) collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021). In addition to the general public (n = 11), participants were sampled to obtain diversity as it relates to identifying as First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (n = 7), LGBT2SQ+ (n = 5), low-income (n = 8), Black Canadians (n = 7), young adult (n = 8), and newcomers to Canada (n = 10). Data were coded in consideration of social theories of trust, and specifically the nature of trust between individuals and institutions working with government in pandemic management. Canadians’ trust in government was shaped by perceptions of pandemic communication, as well as decision-making and implementation of countermeasures. Data suggest that although participants did not trust government, they were accepting of measures and messages as presented through government channels, pointing to the importance of (re)building trust in government. Perhaps more importantly however, data indicate that resources should be invested in monitoring and evaluating public perception of individuals and institutions generating the evidence-base used to guide government communication and decision-making to ensure trust is maintained. Theoretically, our work adds to our understanding of the nature of trust as it relates to the association between interpersonal and institutional trust, and also the nature of trust across institutions. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations inuit PLOS Canada PLOS ONE 18 9 e0290664 |
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The ability of governments and nations to handle crises and protect the lives of citizens is heavily dependent on the public’s trust in their governments and related social institutions. The aim of the present research was to understand public trust in government during a time of crisis, drawing on interview data (N = 56) collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (2021). In addition to the general public (n = 11), participants were sampled to obtain diversity as it relates to identifying as First Nations, Métis, and Inuit (n = 7), LGBT2SQ+ (n = 5), low-income (n = 8), Black Canadians (n = 7), young adult (n = 8), and newcomers to Canada (n = 10). Data were coded in consideration of social theories of trust, and specifically the nature of trust between individuals and institutions working with government in pandemic management. Canadians’ trust in government was shaped by perceptions of pandemic communication, as well as decision-making and implementation of countermeasures. Data suggest that although participants did not trust government, they were accepting of measures and messages as presented through government channels, pointing to the importance of (re)building trust in government. Perhaps more importantly however, data indicate that resources should be invested in monitoring and evaluating public perception of individuals and institutions generating the evidence-base used to guide government communication and decision-making to ensure trust is maintained. Theoretically, our work adds to our understanding of the nature of trust as it relates to the association between interpersonal and institutional trust, and also the nature of trust across institutions. |
author2 |
Lund, Emily Canadian Institutes of Health Research SSHRC Insight Development Grant |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Herati, Hoda Burns, Kathleen E. Nascimento, Maria Brown, Patrick Calnan, Michael Dubé, Ève Ward, Paul R. Filice, Eric Rotolo, Bobbi Ike, Nnenna Meyer, Samantha B. |
spellingShingle |
Herati, Hoda Burns, Kathleen E. Nascimento, Maria Brown, Patrick Calnan, Michael Dubé, Ève Ward, Paul R. Filice, Eric Rotolo, Bobbi Ike, Nnenna Meyer, Samantha B. Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? |
author_facet |
Herati, Hoda Burns, Kathleen E. Nascimento, Maria Brown, Patrick Calnan, Michael Dubé, Ève Ward, Paul R. Filice, Eric Rotolo, Bobbi Ike, Nnenna Meyer, Samantha B. |
author_sort |
Herati, Hoda |
title |
Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? |
title_short |
Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? |
title_full |
Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? |
title_fullStr |
Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? |
title_full_unstemmed |
Canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: Does it matter? |
title_sort |
canadians’ trust in government in a time of crisis: does it matter? |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2023 |
url |
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
First Nations inuit |
genre_facet |
First Nations inuit |
op_source |
PLOS ONE volume 18, issue 9, page e0290664 ISSN 1932-6203 |
op_rights |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0290664 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
18 |
container_issue |
9 |
container_start_page |
e0290664 |
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