Joining hands: a study on the effect of citizen participation on political trust in the Netherlands

Abstract

The decline of political trust is frequently considered one of the most important political problems of modern time. Despite the multitude of explanations for varying levels of political trust, there is remarkable convergence about the idea that citizen participation will enhance political trust. This research has used a multilevel regression analysis on multiple-wave panel data, and included income as a moderating variable, to gain a more thorough understanding of the effect of citizen participation on political trust. A micro-macro interaction approach is used by applying Rational Choice Theory and Social Categorization Theory to explain the effect of citizen participation on political trust. Results show that people who took part in citizen participation meetings had higher political trust. There was no moderation effect, the effect was the same for all income groups. The results confirm previous research and suggest that citizen participation is an effective policy tool to increase political trust, for all income groups.