A tale of political trust in American cities

Wendy M. Rahn, Thomas J. Rudolph

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This study performs a multilevel analysis of public trust in local government. We develop and test competing hypotheses about the contextual and individual-level sources of local political trust. The results show that citizens' trust in local government is shaped not only by individual-level factors but also by city-level factors such as income inequality, ideological polarization, political institutions, racial fractionalization, and size of population. Cross-level analysis further indicates that the effects of race on local political trust are conditioned by cities' systems of political representation.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)530-560
Number of pages31
JournalPublic Opinion Quarterly
Volume69
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2005

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Communication
  • History
  • Sociology and Political Science
  • General Social Sciences
  • History and Philosophy of Science

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'A tale of political trust in American cities'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this