Paths to Trust: Explaining citizens’ trust to experts and evidence-informed policymaking during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic brought forward new questions about the efficient implementation of arduous public policies. Drawing evidence from the pandemic, this article argues that, during crises, policymakers will often opt for evidence-informed policymaking hoping for better results. In line with previous studies, we show that citizens trust more policies coming from experts rather than policymakers and elected politicians. We also add nuance to these claims as we attribute this tendency to the technocratic legitimacy thesis, referring to the symbolic significance of expert authority. Employing a public opinion survey conducted across four European countries, Germany, Greece, Sweden and the UK, we show that independently of prior levels of political trust and of each country’s mortality rate, citizens welcomed evidence-informed policies during the pandemic’s first wave. Politicians can leverage these insights to increase public compliance with crisis management policies.