COVITRU

In the recent past, there has been an erosion of institutional trust which in turn has led governments longing for ways to restore trust in institutions.Yet, there is only little research to guide a comprehensive understanding of trust restoration. COVID-19 sent shockwaves that could have undermined trust further but surprisingly led to citizens rallying behind government institutions. COVID-19 offers an opportunity to nations to take remedial actions that restore decade long withering levels of trust in institutions. Truly interdisciplinary and bringing about theoretical, empirical,methodological and social innovations, COVITRU investigates the relationship between citizen trust in institutions and COVID-19 economic relief measures taken by government institutions in France, Belgium and Netherlands. To achieve that, COVITRU 1) explores and assesses possible statistically significant correlations between citizen's perceived threat to economic security during COVID-19 crisis and surge in levels of trust, 2) finds out whether the surge in institutional trust has been mainly driven by a rally-round-the-flag effect or citizens' satisfaction with economic measures and 3) traces and evaluates any causal mechanisms between evolution of trust and change in relief measures.

Keywords:ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURE

Disciplines:Comparative public administration