Distrusting the Process: Electoral Trust, Operational Ideology, and Non-Voting Political Participation in the 2020 American Electorate

Abstract

This article draws on the extant trust and participation literature to explore how trust in the election process affects non-voting participation (NVP), i.e., non-institutionalized electoral activities that can be consequential to democracy. We hypothesize that those with liberal issue preferences/operational ideology and those with less electoral trust will engage in more NVP. We further posit that issue preferences/operational ideology moderate the effect of electoral trust on NVP, particularly for conservatives. Using data from the 2020 American National Election Study survey (N=8,280), we provide some of the first evidence indicating that distrust in the election process, independent of political and social trust, increases NVP. Our findings also reveal that liberal issue preferences/operational ideology have little effect on the relationship between electoral trust and NVP, but those with conservative issue preferences/operational ideology and high electoral trust engage in the least NVP.