Understanding public trust

Analyses of current scientific achievements have shown that there are some shortcomings of public trust, both in the practice of managing public organizations and in theoretical responses to the contemporary challenges of shaping trust within public organizations while establishing their external relationships. This chapter provides a framework for interpreting the specificity of trust in public organizations in the context of the concepts of publicness, particularly linkages between public trust, the effectiveness of public organizations, and the processes of creating, regaining, and sustaining public trust in public organizations. This chapter reports on the current state of knowledge about public trust and helps to further a deeper understanding of creating public trust within and between organizations.