The importance of trust in government for public administration: The case of zoning

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Cooper, Christopher A.; Knotts, H. Gibbs; Brennan, Kathleen M.
• 署名单位: University of North Carolina; Western Carolina University
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2008.00882.x
• 发表日期: 2008
• 页码: 459-468
• 关键词: state; gubernatorial; POLITICS

摘要

Many scholars argue that citizens with higher levels of political trust are more likely to grant bureaucratic discretion to public administrators than citizens with lower levels of trust. Trust, therefore, can relieve the tension between managerial flexibility and political accountability in the modern administrative state. Unfortunately, there is little empirical evidence showing that trust is actually associated with citizens' willingness to cede policy-making power to government. This article tests theories about political trust and citizen competence using the case of zoning. Trust in local government is found to be an important predictor of support for zoning, but trust in state government and trust in national government have no effect. These findings suggest that trust affects policy choice and helps determine how much power citizens grant to local administrators.