(Dis)trust of Slovenians in political institutions : the views of politicians

Krašovec, Alenka (author), Novak, Meta (author), Kolak, Anja (author), Lajh, Damjan (author)

This article examines the issue of political trust in Slovenia, noting its considerable importance for the democracy-political system relationship. A range of empirical data show Slovenia is one of those countries where structurally low political trust is part of a long-running trend of decline, or at best it fluctuates in a way that reveals no trends. Qualitative data gathered in interviews with 14 politicians from different political institutions, show that Slovenia is similar to several other European countries, notably those in Central and Eastern Europe. It seems the performance perspective holds greater explanatory power than a critical citizen perspective. The findings of a cross-country survey and interviews conducted with politicians indicated many similarities among Slovenian citizens and politicians regarding these aspects, such as the importance of keeping one’s campaign promises and being honest. The interviews also emphasize the importance of politicians being perceived to act professionally and the influence of the media, together with differences in trust across institutions and governance levels, with local-level accessibility proving to be especially relevant.

• Language: English
• Keywords: political trust, Slovenia, representative institutions, politicians, performance
• Work type: Article
• Typology: 1.01 - Original Scientific Article
• Geographic coverage: Slovenija
• Organization: FDV - Faculty of Social Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 25-46
• Numbering: Vol. 26, iss. 1
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-184117
• UDC: 177.3:321(497.4)
• ISSN on article: 2068-7613
• DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.19413453
• COBISS.SI-ID: 282953475
• Publication date in RUL: 29.06.2026

Record is a part of a journal

• Title: Romanian Journal of Political Science
• Shortened title: Rom. J. Pol. Sci.
• Publisher: Romanian Academy Society
• ISSN: 2068-7613
• COBISS.SI-ID: 29949533

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.

Secondary language

• Language: Slovenian
• Keywords: politične institucije, zaupanje, Slovenija

Projects

• Funder: EC - European Commission
• Project number: 101095237
• Name: Trust in European Democracies
• Acronym: TRUEDEM

• Funder: ARIS - Slovenian Research and Innovation Agency
• Project number: P5-0136
• Name: Politološke raziskave