Building trust in government in Southeast Asia

This chapter focuses on the level of trust in order and representational institutions in Southeast Asia (SEA). After introducing the key concepts and the geographic area, I proceed to the trust and governance processes associated, first, with order and, second, with representational institutions. Finally I present the key issues and trends found and underscore the challenges to understanding and improving trust in government. The chapter uses existing data on the trust of citizens in their public institutions, and the governance mechanisms related to them. However, such information is not available for all of SEA. Moreover, most studies on governance do not explicitly relate it to trust. Underpinning these limitations is the fact that the region itself is little more than a geographic reality. Thus, situations in one country might not be as applicable to the whole. I have also used only relevant English-language studies of individual countries and the region, thus absorbing the sampling limitations of their cases, issues, and language used.

Related Subject(s): Democracy and Governance