The determinants of public trust in English local government: How important is the ethical behaviour of elected councillors?

Downe, James Daniel ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0772-3183, Cowell, Richard John Westley ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1639-8004, Chen, Alex and Morgan, Karen 2013. The determinants of public trust in English local government: How important is the ethical behaviour of elected councillors? International Review of Administrative Sciences 79 (4) , pp. 597-617. 10.1177/0020852313501270

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Abstract

One of the most difficult and under-examined issues in integrity research is understanding whether regulatory interventions designed to improve the ethical conduct of public bodies actually have any effect on public trust. In this paper, we present the results of research which has sought to unpack this issue. Drawing on a large-scale public survey and case study analysis of nine local councils in England, the research examined the relative importance of ethical conduct (whether elected councillors displayed good behaviour) on public trust in local government. We found that contextual factors (such as the size of the population and its social and ethnic diversity) and the ethical standards and behaviour of councillors were among the more important determinants of public trust. The most important variable in explaining levels of public trust was how a council performed.

Item Type:	Article
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Business (Including Economics)
Subjects:	J Political Science > JS Local government Municipal government
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
ISSN:	0020-8523
Last Modified:	21 Oct 2022 10:12
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/39386

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