The Impact of Transparency and Accountability on Trust in Public Organizations: The Case of Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality

The aim of this study is to examine the impact of transparency and accountability on trust within the context of public administration. This study was conducted in the context of local governments, focusing on the case of employees with Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality. The scope of the research includes the relationship between municipal employees' perceptions of transparency and accountability and trust. Accordingly, the hypotheses "as transparency increases, trust increases" and "as accountability increases, trust increases" were tested. A quantitative research approach was adopted, and a survey was administered to 249 municipal employees. The data were analyzed using SPSS and AMOS software. The survey consisted of scales measuring transparency, accountability, and trust. The data were evaluated through factor analysis, validity and reliability tests, and structural equation modeling. The findings indicate that both transparency (β=0.256 p<0.05) and accountability (β=0.494 p<0.001) have a significant and positive effect on trust. Transparency and accountability together explained 63.4% of the variance in trust. This study demonstrates that in local governments, transparency and accountability are not merely technical regulations but also essential governance tools for building trust.