Typically when gauging public trust in politicians you can use the fingers of one hand, with voters across the western world typically holding their elected officials in the lowest esteem.  When officially trying to measure trust in politicians however, the methods used haven’t really changed much in the past 50 years or so.

A new study from Michigan State University suggests this is in need of an upgrade, and proposes a system based upon a vulnerability-centered definition of trust, which refers to our willingness to be placed in a vulnerable position in relation to someone.

This new measure reveals three key elements that underpin our willingness to trust a government or politician:

• Can it do its job?
• Does it care about its people?
• Does it have sufficient integrity to generally do the right thing?

“We went beyond the question of, ‘do you trust government?’ to find out what the concept of trust really means. Our research presents new ideas for thinking about political trust and offers suggestions for how to refine it beyond what’s been done in the past,” the researchers explain.  “Using previous trust measures, people view ‘happiness with’ and ‘trust in’ government interchangeably—which is something we wanted to break apart and dissect. This is critical for us to understand and consider, especially given shifts in what we perceive as trust in recent years.”

What trust means

Volunteers were asked to complete a simple online survey that was designed to gauge their perceptions of the government.  For instance, did recent political scandals matter?  Was the economy going in the right direction?  Were their personal interests being represented?

These were followed by a number of questions that tried to measure the three aspects of trust highlighted above.  The authors believe that by focusing on specific characteristics of government, they provide a better insight into how much trust people have in them.  What’s more, they also provide greater insights into how major issues may impact that trust.

The results reveal the important role nuance plays in the way we trust our government and when.  The team hope that their work acts as a base from which think tanks, pollsters and other interested parties measure political trust.

“We shouldn’t ask whether or not you trust a politician—it’s how you trust him or her, and what you’re willing to accept vulnerability for,” they say.  “If you’re a candidate looking ahead to the 2020 election, there are different things to consider to be someone constituents like versus one that they trust.”