Trust in Government as a Factor Influencing Acceptance of Behavioural Public Policy Instruments: Example of Poland and Selected Countries

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15678/krem.18621

Keywords:

behavioural insights, behavioural public policy instruments, trust in government, comparative studies of countries

Abstract

Objective: To assess public support of selected nations with regard to various types of nudges introduced by behavioural public policy and the level of trust these nations have in their governments as the creators of these policies.

Research Design & Methods: The article is based on literature studies, descriptive and comparative analysis along with statistical analysis of quantitative data derived from nudge acceptance surveys conducted (representative research samples, with the same methodology and questionnaire) in Poland and other countries analysed, as well as from the World Values Survey studies carried out in these countries.

Findings: In the countries analysed, citizens approve of most of the nudges presented to them. There is much greater variation in these countries in terms of trust in the government. The analysis of the relationships between both variables indicates that there is no simple linear relationship, i.e. there is neither an unambiguously positive nor negative relationship between the analysed variables. It is rather a U-shaped relationship. The division of the surveyed countries into four groups is also visible.

Implications / Recommendations: The lack of trust in the government proven in the analysis may, in certain countries, be a factor that inhibits the acceptance of the tools introduced by the government and prevents or delays desired behavioural changes. In such a situation, an appropriate solution might be to create a behavioural team that could operate independently of the government and bring together experts who, with greater knowledge, would make better decisions regarding behavioural changes in societies. Governments can also use behavioural science to build trust among the public.

Contribution: Enhancing knowledge of the potential use of behavioural public policy instruments and attempting to assess and benchmark trust in government and acceptance of these instruments in selected countries. The conclusions from the conducted research can be used by both practitioners and theoreticians in the field of public policy.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Almqvist, G., & Andersson, P. (2024). Low Support for Nudging among Swedes in a Population-representative Sample. Behavioural Public Policy, 8(2), 382–394. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2021.4

Benartzi, S., Beshears, J., Milkman, K. L., Sunstein, C. R., Thaler, R. H., Shankar, M., Tucker-Ray, W., Congdon, W. J., & Galing, S. (2017). Should Governments Invest More in Nudging? Psychological Science, 28(8), 1041–1055. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617702501

Bentkowska, K. (2023). Trust and the Quality of Formal Institutions. Ekonomia i Prawo. Economics and Law, 22(1), 21–35. https://doi.org/10.12775/EiP.2023.002

Bjørnskov, C. (2007). Determinants of Generalized Trust: A Cross-country Comparison. Public Choice, 130(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11127-006-9069-1

Blind, P. (2007). Building Trust in Government in the Twenty-first Century: Review of Literature and Emerging Issues. 7th Global Forum on Reinventing the Government. Building Trust in Government. 26–29 June 2007, Vienna, Austria. Retrieved from: https://www.almendron.com/tribuna/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/building-trust-in-government-in-the-twenty-first-century.pdf (accessed: 25.05.2023).

Brandon, A., List, J. A., Metcalfe, R. D., Price, M. K., & Rundhammer, F. (2019). Testing for Crowd out in Social Nudges: Evidence from a Natural Field Experiment in the Market for Electricity. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 116(12), 5293–5298. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1802874115

Costa, D. L., & Kahn, M. E. (2013). Energy Conservation “Nudges” and Environmentalist Ideology: Evidence from a Randomized Residential Electricity Field Experiment. Journal of the European Economic Association, 11(3), 680–702. https://doi.org/10.1111/jeea.12011

de Quintana Medina, J. (2020). The Acceptability of Nudges as Public Policy Tools. PhD thesis. Department of Sociology, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Retrieved from: https://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/671907/jdqm1de1.pdf?sequence=5.xml (accessed: 24.05.2023).

Devos, T., Spini, D., & Schwartz, S. H. (2002). Conflicts among Human Values and Trust in Institutions. British Journal of Social Psychology, 41(4), 481–494. https://doi.org/10.1348/014466602321149849

Dewies, M., Denktaş, S., Giel, L., Noordzij, G., & Merkelbach, I. (2022). Applying Behavioural Insights to Public Policy: An Example from Rotterdam. Global Implementation Research and Applications, 2, 53–66. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43477-022-00036-5

Economist Intelligence. (2022). Democracy Index 2021: The China Challenge. The Economist Intelligence Unit. Retrieved from: https://www.eiu.com/n/campaigns/democracy-index-2021 (accessed: 10.06.2023).

Evers, C., Marchiori, D. R., Junghans, A. F., Cremers, J., & De Ridder, D. T. D. (2018). Citizen Approval of Nudging Interventions Promoting Healthy Eating: The Role of Intrusiveness and Trustworthiness. BMC Public Health, 18, 1182. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-018-6097-y

Ewert, B. (2020). Moving beyond the Obsession with Nudging Individual Behaviour: Towards a Broader Understanding of Behavioural Public Policy. Public Policy and Administration, 35(3), 337–360. https://doi.org/10.1177/0952076719889090

Faulkner, P. (2018). Finding Trust in Government. Journal of Social Philosophy, 49(4), 626–644. https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12262

Haerpfer, C., Inglehart, R., Moreno, A., Welzel, C., Kizilova, K., Diez-Medrano, J., Lagos, M., Norris, P., Ponarin, E., & Puranen, B. (Eds). (2022). World Values Survey: Round Seven – Country-pooled Datafile Version 5.0. JD Systems Institute & WVSA Secretariat. https://doi.org/10.14281/18241.20

Hakhverdian, A., & Quinton, M. (2012). Institutional Trust, Education, and Corruption: A Micro-macro Interactive Approach. Journal of Politics, 74(3), 739–750. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022381612000412

Halpern, D., & Sanders, M. (2016). Nudging by Government: Progress, Impact and Lessons Learnt. Behavioral Science & Policy, 2(2), 53–65. Retrieved from: https://behavioralpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/06/Sanders-web.pdf (accessed: 10.06.2023).

Hertwig, R. (2017). When to Consider Boosting: Some Rules for Policy-makers. Behavioural Public Policy, 1(2), 143–161. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2016.14

Hortal, A. (2023). Evidence-based Policies, Nudge Theory and Nancy Cartwright: A Search for Causal Principles. Behavioural Public Policy, 7(2), 333–352. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2020.55

John, P. (2011). Making Policy Work. Routledge.

John, P. (2016). Behavioral Approaches: How Nudges Lead to More Intelligent Policy Design. In: G. B. Peters, P. Zittoun (Eds), Contemporary Approaches to Public Policy. Theories, Controversies and Perspectives (pp. 113–133). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-50494-4_7

John, P. (2018). How Far to Nudge? Assessing Behavioral Public Policy. Edward Elgar Publishing.

John, P. (2023). The Ethics of Self-aware Behavioural Public Policies: Any Different to Standard Nudges? Behavioural Public Policy, 7(4), 898–905. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2023.10

John, P., Martin, A., & Mikołajczak, G. (2023). Support for Behavioral Nudges versus Alternative Policy Instruments and Their Perceived Fairness and Efficacy. Regulation & Governance, 17(2), 363–371. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12460

Kaasa, A., & Andriani, L. (2022). Determinants of Institutional Trust: The Role of Cultural Context. Journal of Institutional Economics, 18(1), 45–65. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744137421000199

Keefer, P., Rojas, A. M., Scartascini, C., & Valle, J. (2020). Trust to Advance Inclusive Growth. In: V. Nuguer, A. Powell (Eds), Inclusion in Times of COVID-19 (pp. 41–52). Inter-American Development Bank. Retrieved from: https://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Inclusion-in-Times-of-Covid-19.pdf (accessed: 6.05.2023).

Khadzhyradieva, S., Hrechko, T., & Savkov, A. (2019). Behavioral Insights in Public Policy: Ukrainian Case. Public Policy and Administration, 18(1), 85–99. https://doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.18.1.23130

Kuehnhanss, C. R. (2019). The Challenges of Behavioural Insights for Effective Policy Design. Policy and Society, 38(1), 14–40. https://doi.org/10.1080/14494035.2018.1511188

Lades, L., & Nova, F. (2022). Ethical Considerations When Using Behavioural Insights to Reduce People’s Meat Consumption (UCD Geary Institute for Public Policy Discussion Paper Series No. WP2022/09). Retrieved from: https://www.ucd.ie/geary/static/publications/workingpapers/gearywp202209.pdf (accessed: 1.06.2023).

Lahno, B. (2001). Institutional Trust: A Less Demanding Form of Trust? Revista Latinoamericana de Estudios Avanzados, 15, 19–58.

Lehner, M., Mont, O., & Heiskanen, E. (2016). Nudging – a Promising Tool for Sustainable Consumption Behaviour? Journal of Cleaner Production, 134(A), 166–177. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.11.086

Levi, M. (2022). Trustworthy Government: The Obligations of Government & the Responsibilities of the Governed. Daedalus, 151(4), 215–233. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01952

Melios, G. (2020). Europe in Crisis: Political Trust, Corruption and Austerity. The Institute for Global Prosperity, University College London. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3847633

Mensah, Y., & Chen, H.-Y. (2013). Global Clustering of Countries by Culture – an Extension of the GLOBE Study. SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2189904

Miller, A. H. (1974). Political Issues and Trust in Government: 1964–1970. American Political Science Review, 68(3), 951–972. https://doi.org/10.2307/1959140

Miłaszewicz, D. (2023). Nudges jako narzędzia behawioralnej polityki publicznej i ich akceptowanie w Polsce. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Szczecińskiego. https://doi.org/10.18276/978-83-7972-667-7

Mont, O., Lehner, M., & Heiskanen, E. (2014). Nudging. A Tool for Sustainable Behaviour? (Swedish Environmental Protection Agency Report No. 6643). The Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. Retrieved from: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:1610786/FULLTEXT01.pdf (accessed: 5.05.2023).

Nagatsu, M. (2015). Social Nudges: Their Mechanisms and Justification. Review of Philosophy and Psychology, 6, 481–494. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13164-015-0245-4

Norris, P. (2017). The Conceptual Framework of Political Support. In: S. Zmerli, T. W. G. van der Meer (Eds), Handbook of Political Trust (pp. 19–32). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Norris, P. (2022). In Praise of Skepticism: Trust but Verify. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780197530108.001.0001

OECD. (2015). Behavioural Insights and New Approaches to Policy Design. The Views from the Field. Summary of an International Seminar. Retrieved from: https://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/behavioural-insights-summary-report-2015.pdf (accessed: 4.03.2023).

OECD. (2017a). Behavioural Insights and Public Policy: Lessons from around the World. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264270480-en

OECD. (2017b). Trust and Public Policy: How Better Governance Can Help Rebuild Public Trust. OECD Public Governance Reviews. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/9789264268920-en

OECD. (2022). Building Trust to Reinforce Democracy: Key Findings from the 2021 OECD Survey on Drivers of Trust in Public Institutions. OECD Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1787/b407f99c-en

Reisch, L. A., & Sunstein, C. R. (2016). Do Europeans Like Nudges? Judgment and Decision Making, 11(4), 310–325. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1930297500003740

Schlag, P. (2010). Nudge, Choice Architecture, and Libertarian Paternalism. Michigan Law Review, 108(6), 913–924.

Schmidt, A. T., & Engelen, B. (2020). The Ethics of Nudging: An Overview. Philosophy Compass, 15(4), e12658. https://doi.org/10.1111/phc3.12658

Schubert, C. (2017). Green Nudges: Do They Work? Are They Ethical? Ecological Economics, 132, 329–342. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2016.11.009

Sevgin, M. (2020). Public Policy Implications of Cognitive Biases and Heuristics. The Journal of International Social Research, 13(72), 871–878.

Sobiech, R. (2017). Zaufanie do władz publicznych. Efekt zaklinania deszczu a instytucjonalizacja nieufności. Zoon Politikon, 8, 61–86. https://doi.org/10.4467/2543408XZOP.17.003.9262

Stern, P. C. (2020). A Reexamination on How Behavioral Interventions Can Promote Household Action to Limit Climate Change. Nature Communications, 11, 918. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-14653-x

Straßheim, H. (2020). The Rise and Spread of Behavioral Public Policy: An Opportunity for Critical Research and Self-reflection. International Review of Public Policy, 2(1), 115–128. https://doi.org/10.4000/irpp.897

Sunstein, C. R. (2013). Behavioral Economics, Consumption, and Environmental Protection (Regulatory Policy Program Working Paper No. RPP-2013-19).

Sunstein, C. R., & Reisch, L. A. (2019). Trusting Nudges: Toward a Bill of Rights for Nudging. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429451645

Sunstein, C. R., Reisch, L. A., & Kaiser, M. (2019). Trusting Nudges? Lessons from an International Survey. Journal of European Public Policy, 26(10), 1417–1443. https://doi.org/10.1080/13501763.2018.1531912

Sunstein, C. R., Reisch, L. A., & Rauber, J. (2017). A World-wide Consensus on Nudging? Not Quite, but Almost (Harvard Public Law Working Paper No. 17-39). https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2955693

Sunstein, C. R., Reisch, L. A., & Rauber, J. (2018). A Worldwide Consensus on Nudging? Not Quite, but Almost. Regulation & Governance, 12(1), 3–22. https://doi.org/10.1111/rego.12161

Tang, M., & Huhe, N. (2014). Alternative Framing: The Effect of the Internet on Political Support in Authoritarian China. International Political Science Review, 35(5), 559–576. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192512113501971

Tankard, M. E., & Paluck, E. L. (2016). Norm Perception as a Vehicle for Social Change. Social Issues and Policy Review, 10(1), 181–211. https://doi.org/10.1111/sipr.12022

Tannenbaum, D., Fox, C. R., & Rogers, T. (2017). On the Misplaced Politics of Behavioural Interventions. Nature Human Behaviour, 1(7), 0130. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-017-0130

Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving Decisions about Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Penguin.

Torcal, M., & Christmann, P. (2021). Responsiveness, Performance and Corruption: Reasons for the Decline of Political Trust. Frontiers in Political Science, 3, 676672. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpos.2021.676672

UNDP. (2021). Trust in Public Institutions. A Conceptual Framework and Insights for Improved Governance Programming. Policy Brief, August. Retrieved from: https://www.undp.org/sites/g/files/zskgke326/files/migration/oslo_governance_centre/Trust-in-Public-Institutions-Policy-Brief_FINAL.pdf (accessed: 14.03.2023).

van der Linden, S. (2018). The Future of Behavioral Insights: On the Importance of Socially Situated Nudges. Behavioural Public Policy, 2(2), 207–217. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2018.22

van der Meer, T., & Hakhverdian, A. (2017). Political Trust as the Evaluation of Process and Performance: A Cross-national Study of 42 European Countries. Political Studies, 65(1), 81–102. https://doi.org/10.1177/0032321715607514

Warren, M. E. (2018). Trust and Democracy. In: E. M. Uslaner (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust (pp. 75–94). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190274801.013.5

Xiaoxiao, M., & Zhou, S. (2022). News Media Effects on Political Institutional and System Trust: The Moderating Role of Political Values. Asian Perspective, 46(1), 157–181. https://doi.org/10.1353/apr.2022.0006

Downloads

Published

27-03-2025

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Miłaszewicz, D. (2025). Trust in Government as a Factor Influencing Acceptance of Behavioural Public Policy Instruments: Example of Poland and Selected Countries. Krakow Review of Economics and Management Zeszyty Naukowe Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego W Krakowie, 1(1007), 29-48. https://doi.org/10.15678/krem.18621