Not just mirror images: how political trust and distrust relate to public service experiences

Political trust and distrust are increasingly recognized as distinct judgements of political institutions, rather than opposite ends of a single continuum. While poor performance of and unfair processes in public services are assumed to fuel distrust, most research infers distrust from low trust. We address this gap by using measures designed to capture both political trust and distrust. Specifically, we examine whether outcome and procedural dissatisfaction relate to political distrust in the same way they relate to trust. Using a two-stage design, we analyze a cross-sectional survey of service users across eight European countries and a pre-registered vignette experiment that manipulates information about public service experiences. Cross-sectional evidence shows that positive outcome and process experiences are linked to higher political trust, and that their combined absence marks the lowest trust. In contrast, only process experiences are associated with political distrust. Experimentally, evidence indicates primarily that exposure to both negative outcome and process experience information decreases trust and increases distrust, though distrust does differ more across process than outcome manipulations. Overall, we conclude that satisfactory service outcomes primarily align with political trust, while fair and respectful processes are more tied to political distrust, though experimental evidence is more mixed.