Abstract
The diminishing trust in government observed in some countries over recent decades has been linked to theories about declining social capital in the late twentieth century. The best evidence available for Australia suggests that, rathe R than moving inexorably downward, political trust is cyclical. At least part of the reason would appear to be that trust in government is linked to party politics and in particular to the standing of political party leaders. This paper explores patterns of political trust in Australia, using survey data generated over a period of almost thirty years.
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