More than 40 percent of people in OECD countries have low or no trust in their national governments.
The latest OECD Trust Survey, released overnight, found that trust was stabilizing, but only four out of every 10 people have high or moderately high trust in their government.
This compared with 43 percent who had low or no trust.
The survey, covering 33 countries including Australia, found that trust in the police, courts, local government and the public service tended to be significantly higher than trust in government.
Trust continues to be lower among women, younger adults and people with low levels of formal education.
“People trust the public services they count on every day, but are less confident about government’s ability to tackle long-term challenges, and they don’t feel heard,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said.
“To protect and build trust, governments need to open up genuine opportunities to participate, increase transparency, ground decisions in evidence, and make sure new technology earns people’s confidence.”
The report found people were more likely to trust institutions if felt they had a voice in political decision making.
“While 68 percent believe that voting influences what government does, the foundation of democratic governance, only 31 percent believe that people like them have a say in government decisions,” the survey report said.
“This suggests that voting alone is no longer sufficient for citizens to feel heard.”
More than 50 percent of people are satisfied with their healthcare system interactions, 60 percent with the education system and 68 percent with public administrative services.
“However, people are significantly less confident in governments’ ability to balance competing interests fairly, take difficult long-term decisions, and prepare societies for future challenges, all key drivers of trust in the national government,” the report said.
The report is available here
