Leiden University Student Repository

Stoy, L.C. (2014)

Mapping Distrust and De-alignment: Evidence from Thirty-Five Democracies

Master thesis | Political Science (MSc)

Trust in political parties is declining and with it the relevance of parties, or so the de-alignment hypothesis claims. Using data from recent World Values Surveys, this paper provides evidence that the assumption is rather problematic. Longitudinal data shows that confidence is neither increasing nor declining but languishing at high levels. Additionally, cross-sectional data from the 2005-2008 WVS was analyzed using statistical tests at the individual and country level. The results demonstrate that one important factor increasing distrust is electoral disproportionality. Regime durability, interpersonal trust, and perceived democraticness reduce such sentiments. Corruption perception notably has no effect on individual respondents but decreases distrust on the national level. The results pose the question whether distrust is a reason for concern or just a phenomenon natural to representative democracy.

Political parties

World Values Surveys

Author

Stoy, L.C.

Faculty

Faculty of Social & Behavioural Sciences

Specialisation

Political Science

Supervisors

Meffert, M.F.
Meijerink, F.G.J.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en