Policies for Enhancing Public Trust and Avoiding Distrust in Digital Government During Pandemics: Insights from a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The coronavirus outbreak (COVID-19) has demonstrated the importance of the state capacity and public policy-making process in managing both the pandemic and the resulting crisis. Trust and/or distrust in the relationship between citizens and authorities can determine the success or failure of states in combating pandemics. The goal of this study is to provide insight into trust and distrust in digital government during pandemics by creating an overview of the scattered knowledge. Accordingly, the chapter creates an overview of the factors influencing trust and distrust in digital government in pandemics. The results showed that factors affecting distrust are mostly associated with problems in the interactions between citizens and public authorities, whereas factors affecting trust address governments’ policy responses and public compliance. The level of trust is a dynamic condition that can either be strengthened or broken. A single factor can result in trust for one person and distrust for another person. Surprisingly, trust and distrust can coexist at the same time. Governments must pursue a balance between trust- and distrust-related factors in times of pandemics to derive the dual benefits of trust and distrust. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.