Maintaining and Restoring Public Trust in Government Agencies and their Employees

Abstract

The decline of public trust in government in the United States is well documented. We know comparatively little, however, about how to maintain or restore the public’s trust. This article attempts to advance our understanding of trust in government by addressing a relatively narrow question: How can we create, maintain, or restore public trust in government agencies and their employees? The article reviews several conceptions of trust and lays out a series of hypotheses regarding means for building and maintaining public trust. Although the hypotheses have not been empirically tested, they are grounded in well-established social science theories and suggest several avenues for future research.