Representation and Political Trust – How the Interplay of Descriptive and Substantive Representation Affects Trust in Politicians

This paper stresses the role of representation as a source of political trust. Its core argument focuses on the interplay between descriptive and substantive representation and its effect on trust in politicians. Specifically, we argue that descriptive representatives need to provide substantive representation of group interests to facilitate feelings of being represented among fellow group members and to eventually enhance their trust in individual politicians. In this vein, we consider descriptive traits as an important but not as a sufficient prerequisite for trust in politicians. To empirically explore this argument, we focus on four marginalized social groups: Women, young persons, working class members, and people of immigrant-origin. We conduct a survey in Germany, Switzerland, and the UK and apply a conjoint experiment to gauge the causal link between the traits and behaviors of politicians on the one hand and the beliefs of mass publics on the other. In our experimental set-up, respondents are presented with different types of politicians defined by distinct descriptive traits and political behaviors. We ask respondents to rate by which one of the politicians we display they would feel better represented and which one of those politicians they trust more. This study contributes both to debates about the implications of descriptive representation and to research about the prerequisites of political trust. It also can contribute to practical concerns about how we would be able to restore trust in politicians.