Trust in government is expected to promote effective implementation of public services. However, people in different cultures and on different levels do not always recognize the same concept of trust. Using a survey for Japanese and Norwegian citizens, the primary factors determining trust on the local level are examined. The analysis shows that the satisfaction with public service performance is highly influential in both countries, which is partly also true for political-cultural factors, while demographical factors are of minor influence. There are also variations in trust toward different institutions and actors, and the national factor is also significant.
AskimJ. (2007). How do politicians use performance information? An analysis of the Norwegian local government experience. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 73(3), 453–472. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852307081152
2.
BestorT. C. (1985). Tradition and Japanese social organization: Institutional development in a Tokyo neighborhood. Ethnology, 24(2), 121–135.
3.
BostonJ. (2011). Basic NPM ideas and their development. In ChristensenT.LægreidP. (eds.), The Ashgate research companion to new public management (pp. 17–32). Ashgate.
4.
CheungA. B. L. (2005). The politics of administrative reforms in Asia: Paradigms and legacies, paths and diversities. Governance, 18(2), 257–282. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0491.2005.00275.x
5.
ChristensenT. (2003). Narratives of Norwegian governance: Elaborating the strong state. Public Administration, 81(1), 163–190. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9299.00341
ChristensenT.FimreiteA. L.LægreidP. (2007). Reform of the employment and welfare administrations: The challenges of co-coordinating diverse public organizations. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 73(3), 389–409. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852307081149
8.
ChristensenT.LægreidP. (2005). Trust in government: The relative importance of service satisfaction, political factors, and demography. Public Performance & Management Review, 28(4), 487–511.
9.
ChristensenT.LægreidP. (2009). Living in the past? Change and continuity in the Norwegian central civil service. Public Administration Review, 69(5), 951–961.
10.
ChristensenT.YamamotoK.AoyagiS. (2018). Hybridity in the public sector: Comparing development features in municipalities in Japan and Norway. International Journal of Public Administration, 41(16), 1404–1414. https://doi.org/10.1080/01900692.2018.1524410
11.
CuriniL.JouW.MemollV. (2012). Satisfaction with democracy and the winner/loser debate: The role of policy preferences and past experience. British Journal of Political Science, 42(2), 241–261.
12.
CyertR. M.MarchJ. G. (1963). A behavioral theory of the firm. Prentice-Hall.
13.
DahlR.E.TufteE.R. (1973). Size and democracy. Stanford University Press.
14.
DaltonR. J. (2005). The social transformation of trust in government. International Review of Sociology, 15(1), 133–154.
FrendreisJ. P. (1983). Explanation of variation and detection of covariation: The purpose and logic of comparative analysis. Comparative Political Studies, 16(2), 255–272.
19.
FredericksonH. G. (1997). The spirit of public administration. Jossey-Bass.
20.
HoriuchiY. (2009). Understanding Japanese politics from a local perspective. International Political Science Review, 30(5), 565–573.
21.
JohnsonC. (1975). Japan: Who governs? An essay on official bureaucracy. The Journal of Japanese Studies, 2(1), 1–28.
22.
KettlD. F. (2017). Can governments earn our trust?Polity Press.
23.
KimS. (2010). Public trust in government in Japan and South Korea: Does the rise of critical citizens matter?Public Administration Review, 70(5), 801–810.
24.
KnottJ. H.HammondT. H. (2012). Formal theory and public administration. In PetersB. G.PierreJ. (Eds.), Handbook of public administration (2nd ed., pp.180-192). Sage.
25.
KnutssonH.MattissonO.RambergU.JohnsenÅ. (2017). Modernizing the public sector: The Scandinavian way. In LapsleyI.KnutssonH. (Eds.), Modernizing the public sector: Scandinavian perspectives (pp. 241–255). Routledge.
26.
KoikeO. (2013). Institutionalizing performance management in Asia: Looking East or West?International Journal of Public Sector Management, 20(5), 347–360. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPSM-05-2013-0066
KumlinS. (2002). Institutions-experiences-preferences: How welfare state design affects political trust and ideology. In RothsteinB.SteinmoS. (Eds.), Restructuring the welfare state (pp. 20-50). Palgrave.
29.
LeviM.StokerL. (2003). Political trust and trustworthiness. Annual Review of Political Science, 3(1), 475–507.
30.
LimD. H.OhJ. M.KwonG. H. (2016). Mediating effects of public trust in government on national competitiveness: Evidence from Asian countries. International Review of Public Administration, 21(2), 125–146.
MaL.ChristensenT. (2019). Government trust, social trust, and citizens’ risk concerns: Evidence from crisis management in China. Public Performance & Management Review, 42(2), 383–404. https://doi.org/10.1080/15309576.2018.1464478
33.
MarchJ. G.OlsenJ. P. (1989). Rediscovering institutions: The organizational basis of politics. The Free Press.
34.
MarienS.HoogheM. (2011). Does political trust matter? An empirical investigation into the relation between political trust and support for law compliance. European Journal of Political Research, 50(2), 267–291.
35.
MayneQ.HakhverdianA. (2017). Ideological congruence and citizen satisfaction: Evidence from 25 advanced democracies. Comparative Political Studies, 50(6), 822–849.
MoonM. J.IngrahamP. (1998). Shaping administrative reform and governance: An examination of the Political Nexus Triads in three Asian countries. Governance, 11(1): 77-100.
39.
MoynihanD. P.PandeyS. K. (2007). The role of organizations in fostering public service motivation. Public Administration Review, 67(1), 40–53.
40.
MuramatsuE.KraussS. (1984). Bureaucrats and politicians in policymaking: The case of Japan. The American Political Science Review, 78(1), 126–146.
41.
MuramatsuM. (2011). Corruption of scrum-based leadership between politicians and bureaucrats. Toyo Keizai Shimposha. (In Japanese)
42.
OlsenJ. P. (1992). Analyzing institutional dynamics. Staatswissenschaften und Staatspraxis, 2, 247–271.
43.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2017a). Government at a glance 2017.
44.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2017b). Trust and public policy: How better governance can help rebuild public trust.
45.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2019). Government at a glance 2019.
46.
PollittC. (2002). The new public management in international perspective: An analysis of impact and effects. In McLaughlinK.OsborneS. P.FerlieE. (Eds.), New public management: Current trends and future prospects (pp. 274-292). Routledge.
47.
PutnamR. D. (2000). Bowling alone: The collapse and revival of the American community. Simon & Schuster.
48.
SamuelsR. J. (1983). The politics of regional policy in Japan: Localities incorporated?Princeton University Press.
49.
SchillemansT. (2008). Accountability in the shadow of hierarchy: The horizontal accountability of agencies. Public Organization Review, 8(2), 175–194.
50.
TanakaA. (2001). Does social capital generate system support in Japan? [Conference session]. Annual Meeting of the American Political Association, San Francisco, CA, United States.
51.
van de WalleS.BouckaertG. (2003). Public service performance and trust in government: The problem of causality. International Journal of Public Administration, 26(8–9), 891–913.
52.
van de WalleS.SixF. (2013). Trust and distrust as distinct concepts: Why studying distrust in institutions is important. Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 16(2), 158–174.
53.
van HouwelingenP. (2017). Political participation and municipal population size: A meta-study. Local Government Studies, 43(3), 408–428. https://doi.org/10.1080/03003930.2017.1300147
54.
Van RyzinG. G. (2007). Pieces of a puzzle: Linking government performance, citizen satisfaction, and trust. Public Performance & Management Review, 30(4), 521–535.
55.
WollebækDSelleP. (2008). A social democratic model of civil society. In JobertB.Kohler-KochB. (Eds.), Changing images of civil society from protest to governance (pp. 47-69). Routledge.
56.
YamagishiT.YamagishiM. (1994). Trust and commitment in the United States and Japan. Motivation and Emotion, 18(2), 129–166.
57.
ZhaoD.HuW. (2015). Determinants of public trust in government: Empirical evidence from urban China. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 83(2), 358–377. https://doi.org/10.1177/0020852315582136
