GOVERNMENT AND THE “TRUST” TO KILL: Public Trust, Extralegal Governance, and Patriotism
Book Chapter
Johnson, D, Swaby, K, Blake-Gilmore, RN. (2023). GOVERNMENT AND THE “TRUST” TO KILL: Public Trust, Extralegal Governance, and Patriotism
. 63-82. 10.4324/9781003434290-6
Johnson, D, Swaby, K, Blake-Gilmore, RN. (2023). GOVERNMENT AND THE “TRUST” TO KILL: Public Trust, Extralegal Governance, and Patriotism
. 63-82. 10.4324/9781003434290-6
Previous research has shown that public trust gauges the actions of political actors. In this chapter, we examine the effect that public trust has on citizens’ tolerance of government extralegal activities. We propose that when citizens perceive their governments to be good protectors of their human rights, they will be more likely to tolerate extralegal government activities. Although citizens in a democracy generally detest extralegal governance, we argue that in times where such actions may be deemed necessary for the preservation of the state, citizens will tolerate it only if they trust that their government will be responsible with that “extra” power. Drawing on 2017/2018 data from the Latin American Public Opinion Project (LAPOP) on Jamaica, we find support for our hypotheses. Our findings also indicate that these effects are strongest for poorer classes of citizens: poorer citizens are willing to support extralegal governance in circumstances where they trust their government to protect their human rights. Finally, we find that public trust in the government’s protection of human rights is such a powerful force that even when patriotic citizens detest extralegal governance; if these patriots trust governments to deliver their human rights, that detestation converts to support for extralegal governance.
