Public Trust in Government and Its Influence on Political Stability: A Qualitative Study Based on Badulla District in Sri Lanka

Abstract

This research focuses on identifying the political stability in Badulla District in Sri Lanka in terms of public trust in government in the post-economic crisis context. The major institutions have also lost citizens' trust following the recent challenges in the governance of Sri Lanka, including the growing cost-of-living pressures, the perceived corruption, and unequal service provision. The citizens have also lost confidence in the major institutions because of the challenges in the governance of the country in recent times, which include the rising cost of living, the perception of corruption, and uneven service provision. The study looks at the gap in the body of empirical research that it addresses, which is the lack of empirical research at the district level on the construct of trust and how citizens construct trust in the course of their everyday interaction with the state, and how these perceptions of trust impact upon stability at the community level. The study follows the philosophy of interpretivism and has an inductive approach guided by the institutional theory and social capital theory with semi-structured in-depth interviews with about 20 adult residents who were chosen in a purposive manner to achieve social and geographical diversity. Thematic analysis is used to analyze data, which is based on the following aspects: governance practices (service effectiveness, accountability, fairness), institutional confidence, socio-economic livelihood security and social identity-based marginalization. The findings indicate that trust is more context and performance-dependent: low latency, perceived preferential treatment, lack of transparency negatively impact trust; responsive services, participation and benefit in a timely fashion builds trust. Respondents continuously associate trust with less social frustration, enhanced cooperation, and decreased tendencies to protest, which indicate that trust is a stabilizing factor to local political order. The paper provides context-sensitive recommendations on governance changes that make it stronger in terms of legitimacy, inclusion, and sustainable stability.

Keywords

• Public Trust
• Political Stability
• Governance Practices
• Institutional Legitimacy
• Badulla District