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How trust in EU institutions is linked to trust in national institutions: Explaining confidence in EU governance among national-level public officials

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  • Thomas Persson

    (Department of Government, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Charles F Parker

    (Department of Government, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden)

  • Sten Widmalm

    (Department of Government, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden)

Abstract

This article analyzes the link between trust in national institutions and trust in European Union-level institutions among national public officials. Previous research has mainly looked at citizens; in contrast, little is known about the views national officials actually hold towards European Union-level institutions or how much confidence they place in them. Our study draws on a unique survey of 670 officials in 17 European Union member states who are involved in civil protection, a policy area which has recently emerged as one of the most important in the Union. Three mechanisms are explored: a ‘transference’ mechanism; a ‘trust syndrome’ mechanism and a ‘rational evaluation’ mechanism. Our findings confirm the existence of all three mechanisms and show that if European Union institutions are to be trusted to manage European Union-wide crises, then national institutions must be trusted too. This has far-reaching implications for the prospects of enhanced cooperation among civil-protection institutions in the European Union.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Persson & Charles F Parker & Sten Widmalm, 2019. "How trust in EU institutions is linked to trust in national institutions: Explaining confidence in EU governance among national-level public officials," European Union Politics, , vol. 20(4), pages 629-648, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:eeupol:v:20:y:2019:i:4:p:629-648
    DOI: 10.1177/1465116519857162
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chase Foster & Jeffry Frieden, 2017. "Crisis of trust: Socio-economic determinants of Europeans’ confidence in government," European Union Politics, , vol. 18(4), pages 511-535, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Gorton, Matthew & Tocco, Barbara & Yeh, Ching-Hua & Hartmann, Monika, 2021. "What determines consumers' use of eco-labels? Taking a close look at label trust," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).

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