EnTrust: Enlightened Trust: An Examination of Trust and Distrust in Governance – Conditions, Effects and Remedies - Introduction to the Study of Trust and Distrust at the Street-level of Public Policy

Oct 14, 2026

EnTrust examines trust and distrust in governance at the street level, focusing on how trust is built, interpreted, and experienced between frontline workers and citizens who interact with social welfare systems. Drawing on 115 interviews with frontline workers and 117 interviews with citizens across the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, and Serbia, the study analyses conditions, effects, and remedies for trust-building during public policy implementation. The research links interpretive perspectives with contextual factors such as information asymmetry, time constraints, and caseload pressures.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryGeneral

FormatPDF

Pages279

Reading Time1 h 38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction to the Study of Trust and Distrust at the Street-level of Public policy

Trust and Distrust in the Realm of Bureaucracy in the Czech Republic

Trust and Distrust in Social Assistance in Denmark

Trust in the German Welfare System

Trust and the Social Protection System in Greece

Trust and Distrust in Italy’s Social Assistance Frontline

(Dis)Trust and Bureaucratic Institutions in Poland

Informality of Trust Relations in Serbia

Summary and Conclusions

Deliverable 2.2 EnTrust: Enlightened Trust: An Examination of Trust and Distrust in Governance – Conditions, Effects and Remedies WP2: Trust and distrust at the street-level of public policy Work package leader: UNIWARSAW Due date: 28 February 2021 Submission date: 30 September 2021 Introduction to the Study of Trust and Distrust at the Street-level of Public policy 2 Trust and Distrust in the Realm of Bureaucracy in the Czech Republic 10 Trust is the Cornerstone in the Work of Social assistance and Families with Vulnerable Children but … -Insights from Denmark 35 Professionally Trusting by Default? Notions of Trust in the German System of Welfare support for Families 79 The Social protection system and Dimensions of Trust in Greece 119 A “Tale” of an Asymmetrical Relationship: Trust and Distrust building in the Social assistance frontline workers/citizens interactions in Italy 149 The Bifurcated System of Social assistance in Poland: Personal Relations of (Dis)Trust and Impersonal Bureaucratic Institutions 182 Informality of Trust relations in Serbian Bureaucratised Social assistance system 216 Summary and Conclusions 245 Appendix Maria Theiss and Dorota Szelewa 1. Introduction In scholarship on social policy and administration, the issue of trust is often analysed in reference to face-to-face relations between the representatives of the welfare state and the citizens. Various strands of research converge in the stance that trust is the essential aspect of relations between frontline workers and citizens (Fersch, 2016; Stensöta & Bendz, 2020) . This report presents the findings of some research carried out within the EnTrust project (Work Package 2) .1 Its aim was to analyse the levels of trust and distrust and forms of trust building in relations between citizens and street-level bureaucracy in the sphere of supporting disadvantaged families. Thus, we carried out individual in-depth interviews with frontline workers of social welfare institutions and citizens who receive social assistance in diverse countries such as: Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland and Serbia. 115 interviews with frontline workers and 117 interviews with citizens in total, conducted between March 2020 and February 2021, helped us collect qualitative cross-country comparative data about the levels of trust and distrust and forms of trust building at local policy level, and to determine lessons for trust building at the stage of public policy implementation. The perspective we employed in this study seeks to link interpretive standpoints with a search for general issues and patterns of practising and developing trust and distrust in various institutions in diverse countries. Thus, we tried to explore how frontline workers and social welfare users subjectively understand trust, and how they make sense of trust and distrust in face-to-face relations. We also looked for objective processes and contextual factors that have an impact on trust and distrust between caseworkers and social welfare beneficiaries. Our research questions are prompted by literature on street-level bureaucracy, welfare regimes and social work practice. Overall, we assumed that the welfare state regime might have an impact on trust and distrust relations between frontline workers and citizens. This follows i.a. Rothstein’s (2001) arguments that a universalistic, citizenship-based welfare state regime contributes to a higher level of generalised trust and trust between frontline workers and citizens than residual welfare states which adhere to means-testing principles. The former model was found to contribute to spill-over effects between a high level of generalised 1 We are very thankful to the social assistance managers who helped us conducting interviews, as well as all frontline workers and citizens who devoted their time to participate in this study. trust and the trust in the relations between frontline workers a

FAQs

What is the main focus of EnTrust work package 2?

It analyses the levels of trust and distrust and the forms of trust building in relations between citizens and street-level bureaucracy, especially in support for disadvantaged families.

How was the evidence collected in this study?

The study used individual in-depth interviews with frontline workers of social welfare institutions and with citizens receiving social assistance across multiple countries.

Which contextual factors shape trust and distrust in frontline interactions?

The report highlights influences such as time for interaction, repeat contact likelihood, information asymmetry, and management control, all of which affect the prospects for mutual trust.

Oct 14, 2026

Upload by Emma Wilson