TY - JOUR
T1 - Rally 'round the Flag
T2 - The COVID-19 Crisis and Trust in the National Government
AU - Kritzinger, Sylvia
AU - Foucault, Martial
AU - Lachat, Romain
AU - Partheymüller, Julia
AU - Plescia, Carolina
AU - Brouard, Sylvain
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
PY - 2021/9/19
Y1 - 2021/9/19
N2 - During international crises, trust in government is expected to increase irrespective of the wisdom of the policies it pursues. This has been called a ‘rally-round-the-flag’ effect. This article examines whether the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in such a rally effect. Using multi-wave panel surveys conducted in Austria and France starting from March 2020, in the article it is examined how government trust was affected by the perceived threats to the nation’s health and economy created by the pandemic as well as by the perceived appropriateness of the government’s crisis response. A strong rally effect is shown in Austria, where trust was closely tied to perceived health risks, but faded away quickly over time. Perceptions of government measures mattered, too, while perceived economic threat only played a minor role. In France, in contrast, a strong partisan divide is found and no rally effect.
AB - During international crises, trust in government is expected to increase irrespective of the wisdom of the policies it pursues. This has been called a ‘rally-round-the-flag’ effect. This article examines whether the COVID-19 crisis has resulted in such a rally effect. Using multi-wave panel surveys conducted in Austria and France starting from March 2020, in the article it is examined how government trust was affected by the perceived threats to the nation’s health and economy created by the pandemic as well as by the perceived appropriateness of the government’s crisis response. A strong rally effect is shown in Austria, where trust was closely tied to perceived health risks, but faded away quickly over time. Perceptions of government measures mattered, too, while perceived economic threat only played a minor role. In France, in contrast, a strong partisan divide is found and no rally effect.
KW - COVID-19
KW - MODEL
KW - OPINION
KW - ORIGINS
KW - PARTY
KW - crisis management
KW - panel data
KW - rally effect
KW - threat perceptions
KW - trust in government
KW - panel data; threat perceptions; crisis management
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85101040101&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/01402382.2021.1925017
DO - 10.1080/01402382.2021.1925017
M3 - Article
SN - 0140-2382
VL - 44
SP - 1205
EP - 1231
JO - West European Politics
JF - West European Politics
IS - 5-6
ER -