People’s trust in the Norwegian authorities increased markedly in 2020, the year of the coronavirus crisis. The government had the greatest spike in approval, while the courts and the Norwegian parliament (Storting) set new trust records.
The data was revealed by Ipsos’ annual trust survey, which was conducted in mid-November.
The proportion of those who have fairly high or very high confidence in the government increased from 65 to 85%.
That is the highest figure in the last 15 years.
The trust in the Storting increased from 76 to 87% and is thus at a historically high level, as is the trust in the Armed Forces and several ministries and institutions.
Corona-influenced year
A possible explanation for the great trust spike when it comes to the government and the Storting is that the 2019 survey was conducted a few weeks after the NAV scandal emerged.
At the same time, the corona pandemic has undoubtedly affected the past year.
“The COVID-19 pandemic makes 2020 a different year in terms of the relationship between the population and the authorities.
“For example, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Defense are among the ten agencies with the largest positive reputation increase,” Jan Behrens at Ipsos noted in the press release.
“This may be a sign that the population supports society’s institutions in times of crisis,” he continued.
The courts
For the first time, over 90% of respondents had fairly high or very high confidence in the courts.
The percentage amounted to 92%, which is an improvement of 9 percentage points from last year and 3% from the previous record year 2017.
“The courts are completely dependent on the population having great faith in us.
“Contributing to a society built on trust is at the heart of what we do, so these figures are great reading for us,” the Director of the Court Administration Sven Marius Urke noted.
More support among graduates
The police also gained a lot of trust, a total of 89%. The year before, the share was 86%.
As in previous years, trust in the government is somewhat higher in Oslo than in Northern Norway.
At the same time, people with a high level of education have greater confidence in authorities than people with a low level of education.
There are relatively marginal differences in age and gender.
© NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today
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