Signal Trust in political institutions declining since 2021; trust in science high and stable

Summary

The report records that trust in politics in the Netherlands has fluctuated from year to year, but that trust in political institutions has been on a downward path since 2021. By contrast, trust in science remains fairly high and stable. As background, the report points to a growing group of Dutch people who distrust established institutions, government, the media and science. The sense that government has become distant, due to digitalisation and the closure of physical service counters, along with various scandals and the way politics and government handled the coronavirus pandemic, has fed this distrust. According to the report, negative personal experiences with government agencies also turn into structural distrust of the system as a whole.