Trust in the leadership of governors and participatory governance in Tokyo Metropolitan Government

ABSTRACT

This article examines the relationship between the trust in leadership of political leaders and citizen participation by analysing data on Tokyo residents. Among the four variables we used to designate types of, or attitudes towards, public participation, only actual participation has a positive influence on trust. The normative recognition of participation is associated with a critical attitude towards the government. As the unclear needs of citizens have the greatest impact on trust, citizens’ trust is built through relationships between citizens and not between citizens and their government. The importance of positive actions from the local government such as public officials and political leaders that stimulate citizen awareness to the point where citizens take interest in public administration, practice participation, and enlarge participation opportunities, is increasing. We also need to consider the limitations of citizen ability to understand public issues and reflection of their needs, and the limitations of participatory governance on the decision-making process.

KEYWORDS:

• Trust in leadership
• participation
• democracy
• local government
• unclear needs

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2015 Research Conference of Japanese Political Science Association, 11 October 2015, Chiba University. The author would like to thank Professor Kosuke Oyama who was a discussant at the conference for his valuable comments and the anonymous reviewers for their comprehensive and insightful comments on the manuscript.

Disclosure and statement

The Author declares no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This article was supported by JSPS KAKENHI [Grant Numbers 22730122, 25380178].

Notes on contributors

Yu Noda

Yu Noda is professor of public policy at the Department of Regional Policy, Aichi University in Japan. He was a 2014 Fulbright visiting scholar in Public Administration and Policy at Georgetown University. His research interests include: trust in local government, citizen satisfaction with public services, and intergovernmental relations. His recent articles have been published in Asia Pacific Journal of Public Administration.