What's Trust Got to do with it? Measuring Levels of Political Trust in South Africa 20 Years after Democratic Transition. (2nd January 2016)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- What's Trust Got to do with it? Measuring Levels of Political Trust in South Africa 20 Years after Democratic Transition. (2nd January 2016)
- Main Title:
- What's Trust Got to do with it? Measuring Levels of Political Trust in South Africa 20 Years after Democratic Transition
- Authors:
- Gouws, Amanda
Schulz-Herzenberg, Collette - Abstract:
- ABSTRACT: Democratic consolidation relies on a degree of political trust and support for new democratic institutions and actors. A decline in political trust threatens the legitimacy of institutions, and democracy itself. Using Ipsos Khayabus 2014 national public opinion survey data, the paper explores levels of political trust in South Africa's transitional society in late 2014. It asks whether there is a sufficient mass of 'critical citizens' to ensure accountable government, and trust expressed towards key objects in the political system. We find that a majority of South Africans are critical citizens, offering conditional support based on performance evaluations. However, we also find little distinction in the minds of citizens between political institutions and the actors that inhabit them. Low levels of trust in political actors tend to erode trust in institutions. In turn, political trust in democratic institutions is also linked to evaluations of the ruling party; signalling the dangers of a prolonged stay in power by a dominant party. Finally, we conclude with possible implications for democratic consolidation by arguing that if despondence with current actors and institutions increases citizens may become less satisfied with democracy and less inclined to embrace the dream of a democratic, unified nation.
- Is Part Of:
- Politikon. Volume 43:Number 1(2016)
- Journal:
- Politikon
- Issue:
- Volume 43:Number 1(2016)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 43, Issue 1 (2016)
- Year:
- 2016
- Volume:
- 43
- Issue:
- 1
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2016-0043-0001-0000
- Page Start:
- 7
- Page End:
- 29
- Publication Date:
- 2016-01-02
- Subjects:
- Political science -- Periodicals
South Africa -- Politics and government -- Periodicals
320.968 - Journal URLs:
- http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cpsa20/current ↗
http://www.tandfonline.com/ ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1080/02589346.2016.1155136 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 0258-9346
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 6544.040000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 95.xml