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7 - When Trust Pays

The Virtuous Cycle of Trust, Participation, and Service Quality

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 August 2022

Manuel P. Teodoro
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Samantha Zuhlke
Affiliation:
University of Iowa
David Switzer
Affiliation:
University of Missouri, Columbia
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Summary

This chapter reverses the vicious cycle from previous chapters into a virtuous cycle of trust and government excellence. Excellent and responsive government agencies foster trusting citizen-consumers who use, advocate for, and support public services. Citizen-consumers who consume public services instead of exiting to commercial alternatives are more likely to support paying for further improvements to public services. Specifically, tap water drinkers are more likely than bottled water drinkers to support paying increased water rates to fund water infrastructure improvements. We then show how the citizen exercise of voice pushes public officials to provide higher-quality services. Although governments are not well suited to respond to citizen-consumer exit, they are designed to respond to the use of voice. Increased political participation raises the possibility of punishment for poor service delivery, incentivizing officials to keep service quality high. We find that increased electoral turnout is associated with decreases in water quality violations. Reframing the relationship between trust and public services as a virtuous cycle allows us to imagine a better way forward.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Profits of Distrust
Citizen-Consumers, Drinking Water, and the Crisis of Confidence in American Government
, pp. 175 - 190
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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