Transparency is Not Associated With Participation: Antecedents and Differences in Trust in Federal and State Government in the Australian State of Western Australia

Trust in government and its antecedents may differ for different levels of government. This article examines the little-studied Australian state of Western Australia (WA). Drawing on a representative online panel survey, and testing three groups of hypotheses, we look at perceptions of ethical government, performance as measured by satisfaction, trust in government, political participation, and perceptions of transparency, and the interrelationship between these variables. Trust in state government is higher than in federal government in WA across a number of measures. Perceptions of performance and ethical government are also higher at state level, while respondents are more likely to participate in politics at state level. Perceptions of transparency are associated with trust in government at both state and federal level, as well as being related to perceptions of ethical government and performance. However, transparency is not related to political participation at either state or federal level.