The trust-accountability tradeoff: Political trust and accountability preferences in Africa

Abstract

Political trust is commonly regarded as a desirable feature of democratic governance because it enhances legitimacy, political stability, and compliance with public institutions. Citizens expect trusted political actors to behave appropriately, even without monitoring, and may perceive democratic scrutiny of these actors as unnecessary. It is therefore plausible, as this paper argues, that trust in political actors may also be associated with lower support for measures that ensure accountable democratic governance. Using Afrobarometer survey data collected between 2019 and 2023 across 37 African countries and ordered logit models, I find robust results suggesting that trust in the president and the ruling party is associated with lower support for accountable governance. Additionally, support for the ruling party is also associated with lower support for accountable governance, while preference for democracy is associated with higher support for accountable governance. The findings confirm the hypothesis that while political trust is important for democratic governance, it is nevertheless associated with lower support for measures that promote accountability.

Philip Akrofi Atitianti, Ph.D.

Ph.D. in Economics

Research interest: International Economics, Development Economics, Applied Microeconomics