Rebuilding trust and improving democratic engagement for the future: innovation and inspiration examples

Introduction

Democracy, at its core, relies on citizens engaging with politics, but many democracies around the world have declining levels of political trust and satisfaction with the political system. In the UK, data from the British Election Study Internet Panel revealed that the proportion of those saying that they have “no trust” in politicians increased from 16% in 2015 to 35% just before the general election in 2024. Similarly, in the US, public trust has been in decline for decades, with just 24% of Americans saying they can trust the government to do what is right. This distrust is particularly felt among communities that have been systematically marginalised and excluded. On the African continent, where political decentralisation has spread since the early 1990s, data from Afrobarometer highlights that trust in local government also remains low, at approximately 45%, and often lower in urban areas. Likewise, the Lloyd’s Register Foundation World Risk Poll found that in Latin America and the Caribbean, most people (55%) do not believe their government cares about them at all. 

There are several factors which account for such low levels of trust, such as disappointment with service provision and narratives that politicians do not tell the truth or act with integrity. Economic inequality is also thought to correlate with lower levels of trust, as it dampens citizens’ evaluations of the fairness of the democratic process.

Interestingly, LGIU polling by IPSOS in 2024 found that the public recognises the role local councils and councillors play locally and trusts them to act in the best interests of them and their local area more than central government. This would suggest there is potential within local politics to strengthen the social contract between voters and elected officials. So, perhaps when we think about the state of declining engagement in democracy on a global scale, there is a sliver of hope to be found by focusing our attention on the level of governance closest to the communities and individuals.

Declining trust in democracy: What is on the line?

Institutional trust is an essential element for the functioning of societies. The electoral process, the payment of taxes, adherence to laws and use of basic public services all depend on the extent to which individuals trust the institutions in charge. Massimiliano Mascherini, Head of the Social Policies Unit at Eurofound, explains:

“Trust is the glue that holds us together; it is the force of the social contract and the bedrock of democracy. Trust fosters cooperation, strengthens social cohesion, facilitates policy implementation, and encourages public engagement and participation. Without trust, societies fall victim to social fragmentation, which cripples cooperation and can empower populism, thereby undermining the stability and well-functioning of our societies during periods of geopolitical confrontation.”

There are a range of contributing factors to declining trust, including economic strain and the current cost of living crisis, a sense of being unheard, and the polarising power of social media, which can amplify discontent. These all lead to a growing disconnect between citizens and their governments.

In the UK, Dame Sara Khan, the government’s Independent Adviser for Social Cohesion from 2021 to 2024, published a report exploring declining democratic resilience. It found, “Global trends suggest economic pressures, global migration, and institutional distrust are likely to persist, while misinformation will continue to deepen societal divides. Both domestic and foreign actors can exploit these tensions to undermine social cohesion and democratic stability.”

A lack of trust in political institutions leads to an increased risk of extremism. When individuals feel their voices and grievances, whether real or perceived, are not catered for, they can seek alternative channels of expression. Extremist and conspiratorial narratives can be easily adopted, and individuals are more likely to distance themselves from national democratic norms. Declining trust poses a serious threat to the ability of the state and its institutions to govern effectively.

Why does trust matter at a local level?

Local government is responsible for providing the everyday services that people depend on. Generally, local government members have more direct contact with their constituents, and there is more scope for repairing relationships between the government and the community.

According to the think tank Demos, the restoration of trust in political institutions must come from the bottom up, at the level of local government. It states that there are three key components of trust in local government:

• Trust in service quality;
• Trust in the perceived fairness of council decision making;
• Trust developed through personal interactions.

Similar to LGIU’s research, the New Economics Foundation conducted polling in the UK, which found that voters are twice as likely to trust local politicians to improve their areas, compared to national politicians. More than a third said local governments should have more power and resources to solve local issues. It recommended that regions be given the power to build their own strong and sustainable economies through a fairer funding model, greater public participation in local decisions and encouraging innovation.

How can democracies be built better with more trust in local politics?

Terrance DeShaun Smith, fellow at the Bloomberg Center for Public Innovation at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, United States, has been researching how local governments can earn the trust of citizens. He believes there are three signals of trustworthiness:

1. An organisation’s ability.
2. Humanity and integrity.
3. Organisations must live up to all three if they are to be deemed trustworthy.

This equates to whether an organisation can do what they say they’re going to do, whether they care about citizens, or just their own agenda, and if they will actually represent citizens’ interests.

In the African nation of Cameroon, research found that infrastructure provision – such as electricity, water, sewage and social infrastructure – was found to significantly boost trust in local government representatives. So Cameroonians develop political trust in local government officials who can drive development and provide infrastructure. This signals a desire for bottom-up political accountability even when citizens cannot hold top-level politicians accountable.

Developing an effective and transparent dialogue can be achieved through broader participation of citizens in policymaking, actively listening to their concerns, addressing them directly and ensuring clear and consistent messaging. Efficiently delivering on promises is important, as is transparently communicating both successes and setbacks.

Britain’s leading cross-party think-tank, Demos, has published a Trust in Practice pamphlet, which emphasised that behaviour matters more than words. It said basic services should be efficient and of good quality. Councils should effectively communicate their actions, as well as the reasons behind them, so residents can judge for themselves whether the council is providing value for money.

Ideally government staff should reflect the diversity of the constituents they serve, so those from marginalised communities feel represented.

Partnering with third-party institutions can be an effective way to boost capacity. In this way, local governments can gain access to further resources, and outside partners can act as neutral intermediaries.

As misinformation poses a bigger threat to democracy, local governments should also seek to collaborate with social media platforms and civil society organisations to tackle the spread of fake news and promote responsible online behaviour.

Innovation and inspiration examples of local democratic engagement

Netherlands: Wijk aan Zet (Neighbourhood in action)

The City of Rotterdam has introduced Wijk aan Zet, a new electoral model designed to promote local governance at the neighbourhood level. The initiative empowers the city’s 39 districts with their own community councils, fostering a more inclusive democratic process that reflects the city’s rich culture and diversity. Citizens can stand for election to represent their district without belonging to a political party, and at the age of 16, people are allowed to stand and vote for these community councils, despite not being allowed to vote in the national elections until 18. This approach has proven to enhance the diversity of district representatives, with the average age being lowered and also the age range being extended. Plus, there is greater variety in terms of socio-economic status and educational levels and the representation is also much more ethically diverse, which is more reflective to Rotterdam’s make up as one of the most ethically diverse cities in the world. The districts drew up a four-year agreement with the city government and made the plans in collaboration with government, businesses and residents. Recognised as a finalist in the 2024 Eurocities Awards, Wijk aan Zet highlights the engagement value of hyperlocal democracy. Elin Waning-Dedert from the municipality of Rotterdam, explained, “We’ve become brilliant at bureaucracy but we’ve become bad at trust – and trust is basically the opposite of bureaucracy.”

Ukraine: Enhancing local democracy during wartime

To help meet Ukraine’s ambition for genuine decentralisation and local self-government reforms, the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe is working on the project ‘Strengthening democracy and building trust at local level in Ukraine’. The aim is to provide a framework for more citizen-oriented, inclusive, responsive and transparent local governance. To date, over 220 mayors, 300 local councillors and 350 young local leaders representing all regions of Ukraine have participated. Ten local authorities in Ukraine met to share experiences about their transformative local initiatives on democracy, open government and the localisation of human rights. Through these initiatives, local authorities, civic leaders and community members worked together on innovative democratic practices amid wartime. It was said that these efforts enhanced public trust, fostered participation and laid the groundwork for more inclusive governance, with greater capacity to advocate and enhance services to members. Particularly key is how this local level democratic intervention also helps to meet several Sustainable Development Goals at a time of turmoil, like reducing inequalities, creating sustainable cities and communities and stronger institutions.

Czechia: Dáme na vás (It’s up to you)

The city of Brno in Czechia has gained vast recognition for promoting civic engagement through participatory budgeting, allowing citizens to directly influence how public funds are allocated. Now in its seventh year, the “Dáme na vás” (It’s up to you) project has seen over 20,000 residents take part in voting for projects aimed at improving city life, from improving local parks to building bike lanes and organising community events. Brno’s initiative has inspired other cities in the country to follow suit and embrace participatory democracy.

Did you know participatory budgeting was creating in 1989, Port Alegre, Brazil?

At its peak, 17,200 Port Alegre citizens were involved, and $160m was distributed. The process was initially designed to challenge the corruption and clientelism endemic in Brazilian politics. It was particularly effective at mobilising the poor and politically marginalised by allowing community members to directly decide how to spend all or part of a local budget. This increased trust and transparency and empowered local people. The practice of participatory budgeting has gone on to be successfully implemented across cities and towns across the world, including in Korea, where it was found to boost citizen trust in local government. Read more.

USA: Misinformation declared a public health crisis

In 2021, San Diego County declared health misinformation a public health crisis. According to a statement issued by San Diego County: “Addressing misinformation starts at the local level, in our communities. We see evidence of what happens when we ignore it, and allow misinformation to fester.” The Council believes the foundation of representative democracy is trust in local government, which requires open communication channels, including on social media. They outlined that there are several ways for councils to take a more active role in developing resources to combat misinformation. For example, presenting reliable, factually correct information, before false information can spread, so that governments have the opportunity to shape the message and amplify it. In the guidance they also advice that local government should respond once, firmly, to trolls, with the facts. Overall, greater media literacy is one of the best tools local governments can leverage to prevent the spread of misinformation. They also implemented real time monitoring and archiving all official social media content and convened medical experts for public panels where they would review and comment on some of the misleading claims that were circulating in the community.

Philippines: Community-owned renewables

In the Philippines, renewable energy solutions have successfully been initiated by local government units in collaboration with the community. The success of the Barangay Marubay Solar-Powered Water System is due to community ownership, which has ensured its longevity. The barangay utility workers managed the water facility and were responsible for repairs under the barangay council’s direction. Previously, for nearly a decade, residents in the area had struggled to access clean and safe drinking water. They had no centralised water distribution system and were at risk of waterborne illnesses. The community now takes pride in its water system and has gained a sense of ownership from the service it provides. For future projects, it was recommended that an “inventory of technical know-how” be conducted, including local skills, materials and labour, to understand how the community can be involved in the installation, operation and maintenance of such infrastructure.

England: Citizen assembly on neighbourhood policing

In spring 2024, Waltham Forest local council held its first Citizens’ Assembly on the Future of Neighbourhood Policing. It aimed to hand power to a representative group of local people, asking them to consider evidence and make recommendations, when considering how the police can build trust with communities. Superintendent Lora John, Neighbourhoods Waltham Forest, North East Borough Command Unit, said that “trust is built through actions, not just words.” This all followed on from the publication of the Casey Report into the Metropolitan Police which exposed serious failures and issues of mistrust which highlighted a need to represent community voices in consultation and planning. Residents from across the borough were randomly selected to represent diverse communities, and one assembly member said it made them “feel heard, acknowledged and valued”. Another said that they experienced “a feeling of belonging in the community, and the feeling that change is possible from the local level.”

Belgium: Using tech to enhance participation

Back in 2016, local government in the Belgium city of Hasselt partnered with online, cloud-based platform Go Vocal (previously CitizenLab) for their first pilot project. The city government wanted citizens’ input into the renovation of the local Kapermolenpark. The mission was to build stronger democracies by making public decision-making more inclusive, participatory, and responsive, and this has only grown. Since then, over 500 governments globally, have used Go Vocal for meaningful and efficient community engagement. For example, the city of Leuven has benefitted from new sports benches, neighbourhood e-hubs and arts venues, which were introduced in response to citizens’ ideas and needs. The platform allows citizens to contact their local government to submit ideas, collaborate on projects, and discuss how to improve their neighbourhoods. Accurate feedback is provided to make sure people know the outcomes of their participation.

Australia: Tackling climate change together

The Huon Valley Council in Australia decided to tackle climate change locally by engaging with concerned residents. The council declared a climate change emergency in 2023 and took other positive steps forward like employing their first climate change officer and creating a Climate Change Strategy. However, they faced difficulty implementing the Strategy due to being stretched across core services and not having internal policies to action some goals. They outlined that the missing and critical element was ‘the role of citizens’. In response, they held a large community meeting, coordinated the launch of a local citizen’s action group, and continue to run regular climate change workshops. The aim was to encourage citizens to share in the responsibility of tackling climate change alongside Council staff and members. The feedback from the meeting suggested that people left feeling informed and inspired for local action and to become an exemplar community. They were empowered to work towards reducing emissions, despite the failure of national politics. Citizens immediate concerns were raised, such as the recent unexpected cyclonic winds in the area, which had led to lengthy power and communication disruptions. The ambition for the plans grow as decisions around better emergency plans were made in collaboration with citizens.