Why Economic Inequality Undermines Political Trust: An Analysis of Mechanisms (2024)

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Volume 88 Issue 2 Summer 2024
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Shuai Jin

Assistant Professor,

Department of Political Science, University of Massachusetts-Boston

, Boston, MA,

US

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,

Yue Hu

Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Tsinghua University

, Beijing,

China

Corresponding author: Yue Hu, Department of Political Science,Tsinghua University, Haidian District, Beijing 100084, China; email: yuehu@tsinghua.edu.cn.

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Tianguang Meng

Professor,

Department of Political Science, Tsinghua University

, Beijing,

China

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Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 88, Issue 2, Summer 2024, Pages 337–358, https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfae013

Published:

18 April 2024

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    Shuai Jin, Yue Hu, Tianguang Meng, Why Economic Inequality Undermines Political Trust: An Analysis of Mechanisms, Public Opinion Quarterly, Volume 88, Issue 2, Summer 2024, Pages 337–358, https://doi.org/10.1093/poq/nfae013

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Abstract

Research suggests that economic inequality reduces political trust after the public recognizes the inequality and perceives it as a failure of the political system in Western democracies. This study challenges this presumed “output evaluation model” (OEM) both theoretically and empirically. We provide an alternative mediator evaluation model (MEM) contending that objective inequality affects political trust through government-performance mediators, without requiring accurate public perception of inequality or specific regime types. With nationwide economic inequality and public opinion data from China, we examined both the OEM implication and four MEM mechanisms through impartial governance, responsiveness, judicial fairness, and anti-corruption efforts. Findings indicate that the mediating mechanisms, rather than direct inequality, shape political trust, with robust evidence even after addressing endogeneity. This study broadens the understanding of the intricate relationship between systemic conditions and individual perceptions, offering significant insights into the dynamics of trust in political institutions in a general sense.

© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of American Association for Public Opinion Research. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

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