When public participation in administration leads to trust: An empirical assessment of managers' perceptions

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Wang, XiaoHu; Van Wart, Montgomery
• 署名单位: State University System of Florida; University of Central Florida; California State University System; California State University San Bernardino
• 刊物名称: PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0033-3352
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-6210.2007.00712.x
• 发表日期: 2007
• 页码: 265-278
• 关键词: citizen participation; decision-making

摘要

This study empirically assesses the argument that public participation enhances public trust. A model was constructed to include five intermediate factors that might link participation and trust: consensus building, ethical behaviors, accountability practices, service competence, and managerial competence. As expected, participation does explain a significant amount of public trust. However, using path analysis, only two intermediate factors-ethical behaviors and service competence-were found to significantly contribute to trust. Even successful consensus-building activities are not likely to enhance trust unless administrative performance improves. These results indicate that if increasing public trust is the primary goal, then the primary focus should be on administrative integrity and performance results.