Public Trust in Government Crisis and Rebuilding Strategy in China: Analyses Based on a Questionnaire

Public Trust in Government Crisis and Rebuilding Strategy in China: Analyses Based on a Questionnaire

In China, more than 30 years of rapid socioeconomic development has achieved a world’s second economy and formed a distribution system of social wealth without fair and justice. Benefited by the education and IT revolution, the poor people and rural citizens are stressing rights, equality, expression, and participation much more than before and older generations. They are losing the public trust in government which threatens the government legitimacy. This paper examines the relationship between the wealth distribution system with Gini coefficient and gap between the rich and the poor. Using survey data collected from 2010, I examine rural citizens’ trust in government institutes, such as the central government, local government, the court, and public servants. This study also provides some strategic suggestions on rebuild public trust in government by rebuilding moral trust, economic trust, political trust, social trust, and technological trust.