Trust issues: Dealing with distrust in politics

Article

Liberal democracy across the West is under strain. The causes of these democratic challenges are many and complex but there is a common thread: a decline in political trust.

Growing distrust in politicians should be of particular concern to democrats and progressives. A lack of trust matters for two main reasons. First, growing distrust can lead to a downwards spiral of democratic decline, with voters disengaging, becoming polarised, or turning to populist leaders and causes.

We argue that policymakers must act on four significant social and political ‘gaps’ to arrest the decline in trust. In this report, we outline four major areas of challenge for policymakers to focus on to improve political trust. These will form areas of focus for future IPPR research and policy development in the years to come.

Related items

  1. Door, leaving or back with parent and child in home together for goodbye or start of morning. Entrance, family or holding hands with person and kid in apartment for travel to school or business

    Work isn't working: Family, work and progression on a low income

    Most children in poverty in the UK are in working households, a phenomenon that has emerged since the early 2000s.
  2. A row of international flags flying in the breeze outside a building in Paris on a sunny day

    The government is about to host a ‘Global Partnership Conference’ – should it even bother?

    Tomorrow, the government is hosting the Global Partnership Conference in East London.
  3. A row of international flags flying in the breeze outside a building in Paris on a sunny day

    Diversifying diplomacy: UK strategy in a fragmenting world

    How the UK might build more durable international partnerships in energy, defence and technology.