Citizens’ Trust in the Public Sector.

Civil servants and public services seem to suffer from a rather negative image among citizens. In many countries, stereotypes about bureaucrats and complaints about public service delivery abound. It is generally taken for granted that citizens’ trust in the public sector is low in comparison to other institut ions and that this trust has declined over time. What is surprising, however, is that the ‘proof’ for this observation comes from the odd opinion-poll or scandal or a policy-maker’s personal conviction. Decent analysis, especially that comparing across countries or in time, is relatively scarce.