How the Experience of Public-Service Quality and Corruption Shapes Political Solidarity and Trust: Experimental Evidence from a Novel Virtual-State Approach

Using an online vignette environment within a virtual state we call Novaland, we examine how variations in public-service quality and corruption affect political solidarity. Participants make positive, negative, or negative-and-corrupt public service delivery experiences and engage in everyday activities, ensuring immersive and attentive participation. We test propositions grounded in a social contract model, showing that support for domain-specific public spending increases under poor service delivery, but support increases less when corruption is present besides poor service delivery alone. This support seems not to translate into a demand for more general welfare spending. Political trust declines over time when quality is low, especially when corruption is present. These findings underscore the importance of equitable and efficient public services in maintaining both political solidarity and trust. As public service quality declines in many European states, our study suggests that unmet public expectations risk eroding political solidarity in public domains and political trust.