THE ROLE OF REFLEXIVE TRUST IN MODERNIZING PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONS

Abstract

It has been a mainstay of administrative modernization theory that improved public service efficiency and financial accountability produces the useful by-product of in governmental institutions. But that appears to be ever more elusive. Various factors have been identified as significant to declining trust; for example, levels of information provided to the service user, quality of management, and openness in handling mistakes. In this contribution, I build on quantitative data taken from a March 2003 mass survey of British citizens to define reflexive trust as a testable hypothesis that explains why the administrative modernization agenda has contributed to lower levels of in government. Reflexive trust describes citizens' reaction to the accountability confusion of decentralized mixed-economy service provision. As British New Public Management reforms have made service providers more accountable, so service users have learned to play the game. Instead of simply trusting or distru...

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