Trust In Government

Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
Trust In Government
Monday 7th March 2022

Trust In Government

Trust at the best of times is a fragile thing. It usually takes a long time to develop and can be ruined in a jiffy. My wife implicitly trusts me (and I trust her). This trust is based on some promises I made when I married her and followed through by my behaviour consistent with those promises for the last 42 years. Trust is invisible but essential for doing life together. It is like an unspoken social contract.

When it comes to trust of Government and public institutions though the context is quite different to a marriage (impersonal rather than personal), the importance of trust none-the-less is the same. Trust is needed for the relationship to work. If I trust the Government( and Government institutions) and that they are there for my good then I will find it all the more easier to support them and comply with their requirements (laws).

“Trust is the foundation for the legitimacy of public institutions and a functioning democratic system. It is crucial for maintaining political participation and social cohesion”. OECD

This matrix is helpful. The OECD has identified 5 main public governance drivers of trust in government institutions. They capture the degree to which institutions are responsive and deliver on long-term interests, as well as to design and implement plans that are fair, trustworthy, and open to public scrutiny.

An University study in 2020 discovered a dramatic increase in trust in government amongst New Zealanders. Indeed, 80% of Australians and 83% of New Zealanders agreed government was generally trustworthy, up from 49% and 53% respectively in 2009. This was of course evidenced by Labour’s biggest win ever at the polling booth in 2020.

Two years on, I accept that level of trust and confidence in our Government has been tested, no doubt about that. But by and large New Zealanders believe that our Government can be trusted. In fact as at December last year, across a range of international indexes, New Zealand ranks as a world-leader in trust and confidence in government.

That doesn’t mean that the Government got everything right or is even getting everything right but it does mean they have acted consistently with the five drivers noted above. It also explains why most New Zealanders are supportive of our Government’s Covid response including the action taken last week at parliament.

83% of New Zealanders agreed government was generally trustworthy

All this said, I accept that there is a small group of Christians who don’t buy this. They hold a view that a secular Government is fundamentally anti-God if not evil in intent and therefore cannot be trusted. These folks believe that the Governance of a nation indeed all nations should be fundamentally Christian and righteous as defined in the Bible. It’s an Old Testament view that has in the past been referred to as Dominion Theology and more latterly as Kingdom Now Theology and/or The New Apostolic Reformation. This group was well represented at the Protest at Parliament recently.

Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.