Judicial Trustworthiness in Africa: Do Macro-Level Conditions Matter?

Abstract

The current study’s primary goal was to assess the extent to which specific macro-level conditions cause variation in citizens’ levels of trust in courts across 33 African countries. Using an advanced analytical technique, results revealed that a country’s levels of democracy has a significant and positive relationship with citizens’ trust in the court. However, institutional corruption and crime (homicide rate) had significant and negative relationship with citizens’ trust in the court. Moreover, findings observed indicate that the relationship between macro-level factors and trust in the court is mediated by region of the country. Policy implications of the findings are discussed.