Repairing political trust in Tunisia

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to identify the responses required to repair political trust in Tunisia and the differences between two key stakeholder groups, namely, politicians and voters. Design/methodology/approach A sequential mixed method study was adopted using two data sources: semi-structured interviews conducted with citizens and politicians; and media data from TV political talk shows. Data was collected over a three-year period following several key events that affected trust. Findings New responses were identified to repair political trust, and these were categorized using a trust repair framework. In addition to short- and long-term responses, a new category, swift response, was identified to resolve immediate political uncertainty. The role of the trustor (i.e. voters) in actively restoring trust was identified for the first time. Research limitations/implications This study focussed on trust repair responses suggested by voters and politicians and not necessarily responses that were implemented by government or political parties during the period of study. The effectiveness of the suggested responses in repairing trust was not evaluated. Practical implications Identification of the responses required to repair trust with voters, how these differ over time, and according to different trust violations will help Tunisian politicians rebuild trust more effectively during election and non-election periods. Notably, differences highlighted between the responses suggested by voters and politicians suggest that politicians may not understand how to repair voter trust. Originality/value Contrary to previous studies that assume a trustor (the voter) is a passive observer, this research identified the proactive role that citizens play in the trust repair process.

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“…As said earlier, being empathetic requires some degree of emotional investment, and therefore people may not want to engage with someone who is untrustworthy and, as a result, likely to take advantage of them (Stevens et al, 2020). Similarly, Sghaier, Skandrani, and Robson (2021)postulates that consumers are more empathetic toward politicians they perceive to be trustworthy. Since organizations are considered to be an artificial persons in the modern world and many attributes of individuals are akin to organizations, therefore, we postulate that the trustworthiness dimension (integrity, competence, and benevolence) is vital to evoke consumer empathy.…”

FinTech ecosystem as influencer of young entrepreneurial intentions: empirical findings from Tunisia

“…The data were collected through an online survey from all over Tunisia, which was selected as a common example for emerging economies (Othmani, 2021; Akrout and Damak Ayadi, 2022; Sghaier et al. , 2021).…”

“…The data were collected through an online survey from all over Tunisia, which was selected as a common example for emerging economies (Othmani, 2021;Akrout and Damak Ayadi, 2022;Sghaier et al, 2021). The questionnaire of the investigation was sent via Google Forms to all young entrepreneurs who had registered with the Junior Chamber International (JCI) in Tunis, Tunisia.…”