Public confidence in local government organizations: Concepts, directions, and mechanisms for enhancing in the 21st century
Keywords:
Public Trust, effectiveness, environmental management , local government organizations, Good Governance, Public Trust, Local Government Organization, Good Governance, Trust Management, Public Participation, Public ParticipationAbstract
In the 21st century, Thailand’s public administration faces challenges arising from social, economic, technological, and political changes, all of which affect the relationship between the state and its citizens, particularly at the local level. Local administrative organizations, therefore, serve as crucial mechanisms in managing and providing public services that respond to the needs of the people. However, public trust in these organizations has tended to decline due to problems such as lack of transparency, corruption, unresponsive administration, and communication gaps—all of which undermine institutional trust and social capital at the local level. This article aims to analyze the concepts, directions, and mechanisms for enhancing public trust in local administrative organizations in the 21st century. The analysis is based on theoretical frameworks including social capital theory, institutional trust theory, and the concept of New Public Management, all of which emphasize the dimensions of social trust, transparency, and citizen participation.
References
Algan, Y. (2018). Trust and social capital. For good measure: Advancing research on well-being metrics beyond GDP, 283-320.
Bertot, J. C., Jaeger, P. T., & Grimes, J. M. (2010). Using ICTs to create a culture of transparency: E-government and social media as openness and anti-corruption tools for societies. Government Information Quarterly, 27(3), 264–271.
Bouckaert, G., & Van de Walle, S. (2003). Comparing measures of citizen trust and user satisfaction as indicators of “good governance”: Difficulties in linking trust and satisfaction indicators. International Review of Administrative Sciences, 69(3), 329–343.
Bouckaert, G., Van de Walle, S., Maddens, B., & Kampen, J. K. (2002). An overview of the theories explaining trust in government. KU Leuven – Public Management Institute.
Brown, M. E., & Treviño, L. K. (2006). Ethical leadership: A review and future directions. The Leadership Quarterly, 17(6), 595–616.
Castells, M. (2011). The rise of the network society. John Wiley & sons.
Denhardt, J. V., & Denhardt, R. B. (2015). The new public service: Serving, not steering. Routledge.
Easton, D. (2017). A systems analysis of political life. In Systems research for behavioral science (pp. 428-436). Routledge.
Fukuyama, F. (1996). Trust: The social virtues and the creation of prosperity. Simon and Schuster.
Hetherington, M. J. (1998). The political relevance of political trust. American Political Science Review, 92(4), 791–808.
Kim, S. (2005). The role of trust in the modern administrative state: An integrative model. Administration & Society, 37(5), 611–635.
Kim, S. (2010). Public trust in government in Japan and South Korea: Does the rise of critical citizens matter Public Administration Review, 70(5), 801–810.
Killerby, P. (2005). “Trust me, I’m from the government”: The complex relationship between trust in government and quality of governance. Social Policy Journal of New Zealand, 25, 1–15.
Levi, M., & Stoker, L. (2000). Political trust and trustworthiness. Annual Review of Political Science, 3, 475– 507.
Mayer, R. C., Davis, J. H., & Schoorman, F. D. (1995). An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, 20(3), 709–734.
Miller, A., & Listhaug, O. (1999). Political performance and institutional trust. Critical citizens: Global support for democratic government, 204-216.
Newton, K. (2001). Trust, social capital, civil society, and democracy. International Political Science Review, 22(2), 201–214.
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Staff. (2017). Trust and public policy: How better governance can help rebuild public trust. OECD.
Osborne, S. P. (2010). The new public governance? Emerging perspectives on the theory and practice of public governance. Routledge.
Phongpaichit, P. (2016). Inequality, wealth and Thailand’s politics. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 46(3), 405-424.
Putnam, R. D. (1993). Making democracy work: Civic traditions in modern Italy. Princeton University Press.
United Nations. (2022). E-government survey 2022: The future of digital government. United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs.
United Nations Development Program. (1997). Governance for sustainable human development: A UNDP policy document. UNDP.
Yang, K., & Holzer, M. (2006). The performance–trust link: Implications for performance measurement.
Public Administration Review, 66(1), 114–126.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Modern Public Administrative Science
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
