At its core, trust is forward-facing. It’s hard to trust if you don’t know where you’re going.
The Edelman Trust Barometer has documented a crisis in trust in government over the last decade. That lack of trust stems from multiple facets, the most worrisome might be the inability of most governments and politicians around the world to cast a credible vision for the future — one that would be rooted in its ethics and enabled by its competence, accounting for the challenges and fears people have around the world. This shows how trust in government isn’t just about social services delivered or markets regulated but firing the imaginations of citizens. We know this instinctively from oratorical politicians: It’s not just policy that people are connecting with, but the sense of what we are to become.
This lack of vision is hindering the ability of government as an institution to be trusted, but it is also contributing to the dissolution of the “social fabric” around the world. In the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, only 38 percent of respondents surveyed globally report that their government has a vision for the future they believe in. The flip side is daunting: Forty-eight percent of global respondents believe that governments do not have a vision for the future they believe in. A shared vision unifies and galvanizes citizens toward a common goal, yet 62 percent of our global respondents say that “the social fabric that once held this country together has grown too weak to serve as a foundation for unity and common purpose” and 53 percent say “our country is more divided today than in the past.”
To rebuild trust and halt the spread of polarization, government needs to articulate and substantiate stronger narratives about the future of their nations. They must better communicate the ways they want to drive evolution and what’s in it for citizens and communities. Governments must commit to transparency and unprecedented partnership with business leaders, NGO leaders and any other unifying forces in their country.
The Trust Barometer provides insights about who is doing that better:
With being the most trusted institution, business is obligated to join forces with the government to address challenges and map a clear vision for the future. The Trust Barometer data highlights clear avenues to do just that.
Our ability to create a joint roadmap for navigating the current challenges will condition our success in mobilizing the collective energy and forces of our nation. This demands trust between all institutions and players: Government, Business, Media, and NGOs.
The time to initiate and amplify that virtuous cycle is now.
Antoine Harary is Global President of Edelman Data & Intelligence (DXI).