Trust in the Police and its Determinants: a Comparative Analysis of Western, Central and Eastern European Countries
Trust in the Police and its Determinants: a Comparative Analysis of Western, Central and Eastern European Countries

Summary/Abstract: The aim of the article is to check whether the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the level of trust in the police and to diagnose what factors are related to this form of trust. A comparison of data from the European Social Survey (rounds 9 and 10) confirmed that the COVID-19 pandemic harmed trust in the police, especially in Poland, where the greatest decline in confidence in this formation was recorded. During the analysis, the author also checked the strength of the relationship between trust in the police and other forms of institutional trust, political factors (indicators illustrating the state of democracy), economic factors (social inequalities, GDP per capita, ease of doing business) and cultural factors (Hofstede's dimensions of national culture). The results obtained are consistent with other researchers' findings - trust in the police is most closely related to trust in other institutions (especially the legal system) and the condition of democracy. Significantly, somewhat different factors affect confidence in the police in Central and Eastern European countries. In this area, variables such as government effectiveness, the rule of law and control of corruption are of greatest importance. However, the author observed weaker relationships in the case of institutional variables, which were the most crucial for Western European societies. Interestingly, trust in the police in Central and Eastern Europe was also correlated with some cultural factors (power distance and individualism), which did not show statistical significance in Western Europe.

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