WHAT DRIVES TRUST IN PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS IN NEW ZEALAND?

and a Steering Group of New Zealand institutions, including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Manatū Aorere, Stats New Zealand Tatauranga Aotearoa, Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs, and Te Tāhū o te Ture Ministry of Justice.

Trust is a complex concept –especially when it comes to trust in public institutions. Nonetheless, it plays a vital role in whether those institutions achieve good results and facilitate social harmony.

Santiago González, Economist and Policy Analyst at the OECD, outlines how New Zealand benchmarks against other countries.

Levels of trust in public institutions tell us something about how people perceive the quality of, and how they interact with, those institutions in democratic countries.

Last March, New Zealand joined South Korea, Finland, and Norway to become the fourth OECD Member country to complete an in-depth case study on the drivers of trust in public institutions. The recently published study was carried out by the OECD Public Governance Directorate to support Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission in its efforts to build trust in the public sector by providing evidence on how people perceive the public sector’s trustworthiness as well as recommendations for improvement. The work was overseen by the Te Kawa Mataaho Public Service Commission

What does the report tell us?

In the study, trust is defined as “a person’s belief that another person or institution will act consistently with their expectations of positive behaviour”, according to the OECD Guidelines on Measuring Trust. The OECD has devoted substantial effort over the past five years to understanding what drives trust in public institutions and how to measure it. Its framework on the drivers of trust in public institutions recognises five public governance drivers of institutional trust: government responsiveness and reliability in delivering public services and anticipating new needs as well as government principles of integrity, openness, and fairness. Responsiveness and reliability are encompassed as government competencies, while integrity, openness, and fairness are categorised as values.

2021 and April 2022 in 22 OECD countries, including New Zealand. The OECD Trust Survey was implemented in most countries between November and December 2021. In a handful of countries, it was implemented in early 2022. In New Zealand, the survey was applied between February 8th and February 24th, 2022. This collection period coincides with the Wellington protests, which may introduce some bias into responses. The survey was carried out by Research New Zealand and achieved an effective sample of 2,211 respondents.

The findings from the questionnaire, along with more than 40 semi-structured interviews with senior civil servants, civil society, representatives from ethnic groups and desktop research, form the backbone of the in-depth report. In the study, New Zealand is benchmarked against other small, advanced economies such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden and to other Anglophone countries that include Australia, Ireland, Canada, and the United Kingdom, as well as to the OECD average.

countries between November and December 2021. In a handful of countries, it was implemented in early 2022. In New Zealand, the survey was applied between February 8th and February 24th, 2022. This collection period coincides with the Wellington protests, which may introduce some bias into responses. The survey was carried out by Research New Zealand and achieved an effective sample of 2211 respondents.

The findings from the questionnaire, along with more than 40 semi-structured interviews with senior civil servants, civil society, representatives from ethnic groups and desktop research, form the backbone of the in-depth report. In the study, New Zealand is benchmarked against other small, advanced economies such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden and to other Anglophone countries that include Australia, Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as to the OECD average.

According to Brezzi et al’s publication An updated OECD framework on drivers of trust in public institutions to meet current and future challenges, the framework, revisited during 2020 and 2021 following the COVID-19 pandemic, also allows space for other drivers related to personal characteristics, culture, political preferences, and current economic situation, as well as their perceptions of government action on intergenerational and global challenges.

countries between November and December 2021. In a handful of countries, it was implemented in early 2022. In New Zealand, the survey was applied between February 8th and February 24th, 2022. This collection period coincides with the Wellington protests, which may introduce some bias into responses. The survey was carried out by Research New Zealand and achieved an effective sample of 2211 respondents.

First, to measure trust levels, the OECD carried out the first cross-country survey on the Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions (OECD Trust Survey) between November

Levels of trust are high in New Zealand when compared to other OECD countries. In New Zealand, 55 percent of the population trusts the public service. This is above the OECD average (50 percent) and in the middle of the reference group, after Ireland, Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, but above Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden (Figure 1). Beyond differences among countries, the study also shows significant differences in trust among population groups in New Zealand: people with high levels of education, older respondents, and males report significantly higher levels of trust in the public service.

Levels of trust are high in New Zealand when compared to other OECD countries. In New Zealand, 55 percent of the population trusts the public service. This is above the OECD average (50 percent) and in the middle of the reference group, after Ireland, Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, but above Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden (Figure 1). Beyond differences among countries, the study also shows significant differences in trust among population groups in New Zealand: people with high levels of education, older respondents, and males report significantly higher levels of trust in the public service.

Figure 1 New Zealanders have fairly high confidence in the public service

Share of respondents who indicate confidence in the public service in New Zealand, selected countries and OECD average, 2021

The findings from the questionnaire, along with more than 40 semi-structured interviews with senior civil servants, civil society, representatives from ethnic groups and desktop research, form the backbone of the in-depth report. In the study, New Zealand is benchmarked against other small, advanced economies such as Finland, Norway, Denmark, and Sweden and to other Anglophone countries that include Australia, Ireland, Canada and the United Kingdom, as well as to the OECD average.

Levels of trust are high in New Zealand when compared to other OECD countries. In New Zealand, 55 percent of the population trusts the public service. This is above the OECD average (50 percent) and in the middle of the reference group, after Ireland, Finland, Norway, and the United Kingdom, but above Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Denmark, and Sweden (Figure 1). Beyond differences among countries, the study also shows significant differences in trust among population groups in New Zealand: people with high levels of education, older respondents, and males report significantly higher levels of trust in the public service.

Share of respondents who indicate confidence in the public service in New Zealand, selected countries and OECD average, 2021

Source: OECD Trust Survey (http://oe.cd/trust)

Note: Figure 1 presents responses to the question, “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust the public service?” The “trust” proportion is the public service in a logistic estimation that controls for individual characteristics and self-reported levels of interpersonal trust. All variables depicted are statistically significant at 99 percent, except responsiveness, which is statistically significant at 95 percent. Only questions derived from the OECD Trust Framework are depicted on the x-axis, while individual characteristics such as age, gender, and education, which also may be statistically significant, are not shown.

Note: Figure 1 presents responses to the question, “On a scale of 0 to 10, where 0 is not at all and 10 is completely, how much do you trust the public service?” The “trust” proportion is the aggregation of responses from 6-10 on the scale; “neutral” is equal to a response of 5; “do not trust” is the aggregation of responses from 0-4; and “Don’t know” was a separate answer choice. OECD(22) refers to the unweighted average across 22 OECD countries.

High levels of trust in New Zealand should not, however, be taken for granted. As new challenges emerge and old ones reappear after the COVID-19 pandemic, people in New Zealand expect the government to build on the lessons learnt to improve service delivery and the resilience of public institutions.

Recommendations to preserve and strengthen New Zealand’s trust capital include: keep investing in and improving initiatives for political socialisation and outreach to specific segments of the population, such as the young, the less educated, or other underrepresented groups. aggregation of responses from 6-10 on the scale; “neutral” is equal to a response of 5; “do not trust” is the aggregation of responses from 0-4; and “Don’t know” was a separate answer choice. OECD(22) refers to the unweighted average across 22 OECD countries. Source: OECD Trust Survey (http://oe.cd/trust)

High levels of institutional trust are an invaluable asset that will help New Zealand navigate complex challenges while preserving its place as a leader among OECD countries in several public governance domains.

Indeed, the study finds that the extent to which public institutions are perceived as responsive in improving public services has the highest potential impact on trust in the public service. According to the survey, 42.7 percent of respondents expect that if a service is working badly and people complain about it, it will be improved. Trust in the public service could rise by 6.3 percentage points if the average New Zealander had slightly higher hopes about how quickly services would improve. This is measured by a one standard deviation increase (see Figure 2). Government preparedness to protect people in the event of a future pandemic or other catastrophic event could also greatly influence trust in the public service. If the average responder had a slightly better view of how prepared the government was, trust in the public service would go up by almost 5 percentage points.

• continuing to monitor trust in public institutions and its drivers as crucial guidance on where to invest in preserving and strengthening trust in public institutions

• improving delivery and responsiveness of public services by ensuring that all frontline services have effective and regularly used feedback loops on citizen experience and by ensuring that all agencies are routinely analysing the experience of different population groups and communities

Peter Hughes, Public Service Commissioner, in response to the survey, said it was particularly pleasing to see the OECD acknowledge “the high levels of institutional trust in New Zealand”. He goes on to say “Trust and confidence is something that cannot be taken for granted. Public servants work hard every day to build and maintain it. Without public trust the Public Service loses its licence to operate”.

High levels of trust in New Zealand should not, however, be taken for granted. As new challenges emerge and old ones reappear after the COVID-19 pandemic, people in New Zealand expect the government to build on the lessons learnt to improve service delivery and the resilience of public institutions.

• strengthening institutional mechanisms for long-term policy and foresight, including longterm briefings, and promoting conversations about how these tools could systematically influence policymaking

Santiago González is the lead economist of the Governance Indicators and Performance evaluation division of the OECD Public Governance Directorate. He has been the project manager of case studies about the drivers of public trust in Korea, Finland, Norway and New Zealand.

Indeed, the study finds that the extent to which public institutions are perceived as responsive in improving public services has the highest potential impact on trust in the public service. According to the survey, 42.7 percent of respondents expect that if a service is working badly and people complain about it, it will be improved. Trust in the public service could rise by 6.3 percentage points if the average New Zealander had slightly higher hopes about how quickly services would be provided. This is measured by a one standard deviation increase. (see Figure 2). Government preparedness to protect people in the event of a future pandemic or other catastrophic event could also greatly influence trust in the public service. If the average responder had a slightly better view of how prepared the government was, trust in the public service would go up by almost 5 percentage points.

Note: The Figure 2 shows the most robust determinants of self-reported trust in

• proactively reaching out to people who feel left behind, preventing participation gaps from becoming structural political inequalities. Accordingly, it is essential to

FUTURE READING

OECD (2023), Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions in New Zealand, Building Trust in Public Institutions, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/948accf8-en.

OECD (2022), Building Trust to Reinforce Democracy: Main Findings from the 2021 OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions, Building Trust in Public Institutions, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/b407f99c-en.

Brezzi, M., et al. (2021), An updated OECD framework on drivers of trust in public institutions to meet current and future challenges, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 48, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/ b6c5478c-en.

OECD (2017), OECD Guidelines on Measuring Trust, OECD Publishing, Paris. http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264278219-

Source: OECD Trust Survey (http://oe.cd/trust)

Note: The figure shows the most robust determinants of self-reported trust in public service in a logistic estimation that controls for individual characteristics and self-reported levels of