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How Trust Matters: The Changing Political Relevance of Political Trust

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  • Marc J. Hetherington
  • Jason A. Husser

Abstract

Americans most often think about government in terms of its ability to grapple with issues of redistribution and race. However, the September 11 terrorist attacks led to a massive increase in media attention to foreign affairs, which caused people to think about the government in terms of defense and foreign policy. We demonstrate that such changes in issue salience alter the policy preferences that political trust shapes. Specifically, we show that trust did not affect attitudes about the race‐targeted programs in 2004 as it usually does, but instead affected a range of foreign policy and national defense preferences. By merging survey data gathered from 1980 through 2004 with data from media content analyses, we show that, more generally, trust's effects on defense and racial policy preferences, respectively, increase as the media focus more attention in these areas and decrease when that attention ebbs.

Suggested Citation

  • Marc J. Hetherington & Jason A. Husser, 2012. "How Trust Matters: The Changing Political Relevance of Political Trust," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 56(2), pages 312-325, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:amposc:v:56:y:2012:i:2:p:312-325
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1540-5907.2011.00548.x
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    Cited by:

    1. Jaeyoung Lim & Kuk-Kyoung Moon, 2021. "Can Political Trust Weaken the Relationship between Perceived Environmental Threats and Perceived Nuclear Threats? Evidence from South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-13, September.
    2. Hugo Mell & Lou Safra & Perrine Demange & Yann Algan & Nicolas Baumard & Coralie Chevallier, 2020. "Early life adversity is associated with diminished social trust in adults," Working Papers hal-03393061, HAL.
    3. Kao, Yu-Hui & Sapp, Stephen G., 2022. "The effect of cultural values and institutional trust on public perceptions of government use of network surveillance," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    4. Habibov, Nazim & Cheung, Alex & Auchynnikava, Alena, 2017. "Does social trust increase willingness to pay taxes to improve public healthcare? Cross-sectional cross-country instrumental variable analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 25-34.
    5. Akhlaq Ahmad & Farhan Navid Yousaf & Mazhar Iqbal Bhatti, 2019. "Political Trust and Efficacy among Educated Youth in Pakistan," Global Regional Review, Humanity Only, vol. 4(2), pages 386-391, June.
    6. Hugo Mell & Lou Safra & Perrine Demange & Yann Algan & Nicolas Baumard & Coralie Chevallier, 2020. "Early life adversity is associated with diminished social trust in adults," Sciences Po publications info:hdl:2441/1n437se8a69, Sciences Po.
    7. Oude Groeniger, Joost & Noordzij, Kjell & van der Waal, Jeroen & de Koster, Willem, 2021. "Dutch COVID-19 lockdown measures increased trust in government and trust in science: A difference-in-differences analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    8. Jacqueline CK Lam & Victor OK Li & David M. Reiner & Yang Han & Shan Shan Wang, 2018. "Trust in Government and Effective Nuclear Safety Governance in Great Britain," Working Papers EPRG 1811, Energy Policy Research Group, Cambridge Judge Business School, University of Cambridge.
    9. Thomas Clark Durant & Michael Weintraub & Daniel Houser & Shuwen Li, 2018. "Trust in the executive," Journal of Peace Research, Peace Research Institute Oslo, vol. 55(5), pages 609-624, September.
    10. Jaeyoung Lim & Kuk-Kyoung Moon, 2023. "Political Ideology and Trust in Government to Ensure Vaccine Safety: Using a U.S. Survey to Explore the Role of Political Trust," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-15, March.
    11. Ahmadi, Iman & Habel, Johannes & Jia, Miaolei & Wei, Sarah, 2022. "Consumer stockpiling under the impact of a global disaster: The evolution of affective and cognitive motives," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 56-71.
    12. Nunkoo, Robin & Smith, Stephen L.J., 2013. "Political economy of tourism: Trust in government actors, political support, and their determinants," Tourism Management, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 120-132.
    13. Peter Dirksmeier & Leonie Tuitjer, 2023. "Do trust and renewable energy use enhance perceived climate change efficacy in Europe?," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 25(8), pages 8753-8776, August.
    14. Robert Weymouth & Janette Hartz-Karp & Dora Marinova, 2020. "Repairing Political Trust for Practical Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-25, August.
    15. Jae Young Lim & Kuk-Kyoung Moon, 2020. "Examining the Moderation Effect of Political Trust on the Linkage between Civic Morality and Support for Environmental Taxation," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-15, June.
    16. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/1n437se8a69spq2hr64i89pc1m is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Martins Priedols & Girts Dimdins & Viktorija Gaina & Veronika Leja & Ivars Austers, 2022. "Political Trust and the Ultimate Attribution Error in Explaining Successful and Failed Policy Initiatives," SAGE Open, , vol. 12(2), pages 21582440221, June.
    18. Liu, Ning & Bao, Guoxian & Wu, Shaolong, 2023. "Social implications of Covid-19: Its impact on general trust, political trust, and trust in physicians in China," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 317(C).
    19. Lissitsa, Sabina, 2021. "Effects of digital use on trust in political institutions among ethnic minority and hegemonic group – A case study," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).

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