Can open data increase younger generations’ trust in democratic institutions? A study in the European Union

Abstract

Scholars and policy makers are giving increasing attention to how young people are involved in politics and their confidence in the current democratic system. In a context of a global trust crisis in the European Union, this paper examines if open government data, a promising governance strategy, may help to boost Millennials’ and Generation Z trust in public institutions and satisfaction with public outcomes. First, results from our preliminary analysis challenge some popular beliefs by revealing that younger generations tend to trust in their institutions notably more than the rest of the European citizens. In addition, our findings show that open government data is a trust-enabler for Millennials and Generation Z, not only through a direct link between both, but also thanks to the mediator role of citizens’ satisfaction. Accordingly, public officers are encouraged to spread the implementation of open data strategies as a way to improve younger generations’ attachment to democratic institutions.

Investigation into the adoption of open government data among students: the behavioural intention-based comparative analysis of three countries

“…The aim of this study is to investigate the adoption of OGD and open data portals among students, including their experience on the subject. Our main intention is that we have chosen one group, which we consider to be one of the most important for OGD-based innovations, while at the same time, modifying the evaluation framework to include modern ICT trends (also in line with Gonzálvez-Gallego and Nieto-Torrejón, 2021). These are primarily open data portals and their features aimed to support participation, collaboration and cooperation of users as well as work with open datasets.…”

“…In this respect, Gonzálvez-Gallego and Nieto-Torrejón (2021) examined whether and how OGD as a governance strategy can contribute to the trust of millennials' and Generation Z in public institutions and satisfaction with public outcomes. This study reuses the European Social Survey data, which evaluate public attitudes and values in Europe, and the Open Data Barometer.…”

Introduction: Reconsidering Ph.D. Studies in Social Sciences and Humanities in Poland: Between Tradition and Innovation

“…ey also aim at making publicly available the research data that were the basis for their analysis along with the publication, so that everyone can verify their conclusions and use the data (acquired with public money) in other studies, e.g., in meta-analyses. 60 Open science poses, however, a lot of challenges for social sciences. Scienti c publishing houses are reluctant to publish books in open access due to the fact that they lose the chance of gaining pro t from sales.…”