The use of experts in building political trust

Dissenting Opinions and Critical Citizens in Times of Crisis

Bibliographic Data

ID6252907
AuthorsVera W H Yuen (0000-0002-0141-821X, Faculty of Business and Economics, HKU, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume30
Issue7
Pages1291-1312
Publication date2023-10-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueDemocratization (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1351-0347 • E-ISSN: 1743-890X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13510347.2023.2227572
OpenAlexW4382940015
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited85

Under COVID-19 emergency decrees, countries imposed freedom-restricting measures that health experts endorsed to contain the disease. There has been debates about whether the pandemic has led to the backsliding of democratic standards and the promotion of illiberal and authoritarian practices. This study conducted a survey in Hong Kong, a non-democracy. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government postponed an election widely expected to be won by the opposition. This study explores whether health experts' opinions could affect public support for postponement of a regular election and government trustworthiness. It finds that neither health experts' affirmation nor negation increased support for the postponement, but rejecting the government mandate reduced government trustworthiness while affirming it did not. The negative opinions thus had asymmetric information value against affirmative opinions in a known-censored environment. This channel operates through democrats in Hong Kong, who are critical citizens of the regime. The strategy of silencing dissent would be cost-effective for preserving political trust while engaging experts to support the mandates appeared unhelpful. This study contributes to understanding the use of experts in influencing political trust within an authoritarian setting.KEYWORDS: Expertselectionpolitical trustrepressioncritical citizensdissentspublic opinionauthoritarian regimescensorshipinformation value Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Additional informationNotes on contributorsVera W. H. YuenVera W. H. Yuen is a Lecturer in the Faculty of Business and Economics at the University of Hong Kong. Her interests include political economy, authoritarian politics, and public health. She has been involved in public policy-making and has written advocacy papers with think tanks on areas such as housing, retirement protection, the labour market, and media regulation. She has also sat on several government boards related to housing, broadcasting, security, education, and culture

Authoritarianism · Business · Democracy · Disinformation · Dissent · Dissenting opinion · Government (linguistics · Mandate · Misinformation · Opposition (politics · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Postponement · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · Disaster Management and Resilience · Law · Populism, Right-Wing Movements · Public Administration · Southeast Asian Sociopolitical Studies

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