Democracies everywhere are experiencing a crisis of confidence.
A poll by global public relations firm Edelman shows that from 2021 to 2023 alone, public trust in government will drop by 12 percentage points to 47 percent in Germany; by 16 points to 34 percent in South Korea; and ten points to 37 percent in England.
When people’s trust in government is lost, so is their trust in democracy. If people don’t trust their government, why should they trust the principles of that government?
But at the same time, people continue to trust the private sector. From 2019 to 2020, Edelman found that businesses are tied to the most publicly trusted institutions in 27 of the world’s richest countries, most of which are democracies. In 2021, business became the only institution with a positive rating for trust; the majority of people distrust non-profit organizations, government, and the media; business is the only institution that the majority considers both ethical and authoritative.
Commentators regularly criticize financial firms and technology companies, lamenting the destruction of the private sector for democracy and the failure of capitalism. But the general public clearly disagrees. In 2022, they again gave the top business marks for ethics and competence, and in 2023 considered the private sector as the only institution they trusted.
Like it or not, people trust Walmart more than they trust the US Congress. He trusts Tim Cook more than Rishi Sunak.
That trust means that policymakers must see the private sector not as the cause of democracy’s problems, but as the solution: They can use public trust in business and support for the private sector to rebuild lagging public trust in government—and strengthen democracy.
Why do people believe in business, even if they are skeptical or even critical of capitalism?
He views the private sector as dynamic and productive, in contrast to a rigid and ineffective government. While SpaceX is literally reaching for the stars or Apple is creating the world of tomorrow, governments from Downing Street to the White House seem stuck in the world of yesterday. An active private sector offers the promise of a better life, while a tired government reminds people of what is lost, and how clouded the future is.
Instead of criticizing business, politicians should learn to work with private sector through a principled and coordinated public-private partnership based on shared goals.
The partnership can be very successful. In 1996, the Australian government and four private companies upgraded the Ballina Bypass seven months ahead of schedule and for $100 million less than estimated.
Public-private partnerships have also allowed Japan to maintain world-class railways despite falling revenues. Germany in the early 2000s created several government bodies to connect the private sector and small municipalities with public-private partnership experts and provide support mechanisms. The formula has resulted in successful cooperation in the construction of everything from administrative buildings to sports facilities.
Perhaps the most successful public-private partnership in recent years has been the development of a COVID-19 vaccine. The Trump administration is accelerating the production of some vaccine candidates with $10 billion in funding. Germany is taking a similar approach to funding Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine. Washington then passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the CHIPS and Science Act, both of which earmarked billions for what were essentially public-private partnerships.
However, companies are not in the business of fixing social problems. They are in the business of making money.
But if officials work with the private sector to align those goals while maintaining government oversight, the result will be better government and greater public trust. The removal will be a blow to democracy, because despite the gloomy headlines about the lack of faith in democracy, people want rely on their government. They believe in England or America or Japan even if they don’t believe in democracy today.
Some 84 percent of Americans say the level of trust they have and their colleagues in the federal government could improve. In fact, from January to May 2020 – when the COVID-19 pandemic really took hold – several democracies increased their trust in the government: by 24 points in the UK, 20 points in Canada, 19 points in Germany, 13 points in France. , and nine points in the United States. When people need their government, and their government delivers, citizens learn to trust their leaders again.
These numbers eventually come back down to Earth, mainly because national governments fail to control the pandemic, mismanage vaccine launches, or become scandals and other problems. But what the era of COVID-19 should teach us is that trust in government can improve, and increase quickly: Governments can earn the trust of their people by delivering.
One hopes that in the coming years, the government will look to the private sector for help.
Charles Dunst (@CharlesDunst) is a writer Defeating the Dictators: How Democracy Can Win in the Age of the Strong (Hodder & Stoughton), published on February 2, 2023.
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