Rally 'round the Flag: The COVID-19 Crisis and Trust in the National Government

Autor(en)

Sylvia Kritzinger, Martial Foucault, Romain Lachat, Julia Partheymüller, Carolina Plescia, Sylvain Brouard

Abstrakt

During international crises, trust in government is expected to increase irrespective of the wisdom of the policies it pursues. This has been called a ‘rally-round-the-flag’ effect. This article examines whether the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in such a rally effect. Using multi-wave panel surveys conducted in Austria and France starting from March 2020, in the article it is examined how government trust was affected by the perceived threats to the nation’s health and economy created by the pandemic as well as by the perceived appropriateness of the government’s crisis response. A strong rally effect is shown in Austria, where trust was closely tied to perceived health risks, but faded away quickly over time. Perceptions of government measures mattered, too, while perceived economic threat only played a minor role. In France, in contrast, a strong partisan divide is found and no rally effect.

Organisation(en)

Institut für Staatswissenschaft

Externe Organisation(en)

Institut d’études politiques de Paris

Journal

West European Politics

Band

44

Seiten

1205-1231

Anzahl der Seiten

27

ISSN

0140-2382

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2021.1925017

Publikationsdatum

09-2021

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ÖFOS 2012

506012 Politische Systeme, 504007 Empirische Sozialforschung, 303011 Gesundheitspolitik

Schlagwörter

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Political Science and International Relations

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 – Gesundheit und Wohlergehen

Link zum Portal

https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/de/publications/rally-round-the-flag-the-covid19-crisis-and-trust-in-the-national-government(ed1c418d-066a-48ff-a9ab-e89b4acccd0c).html