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In court we trust? Political affinity and citizen's attitudes toward court's decisions.

  • Published In: Governance, 2025, v. 38, n. 2. P. 1 1 of 3

  • Database: Academic Search Ultimate 2 of 3

  • Authored By: Pereira, Carlos; Klevenhusen, André; Barros, Lúcia 3 of 3

Abstract

This article investigates the role of citizen political affinities in shaping attitudes towards judicial decisions in corruption cases involving politicians. Although emerging research suggests that decisions regarding a high‐ranking politician can reduce general citizen trust in courts, there is no systematic evidence examining how political affinities differentially affect confidence in court decisions depending on the accused politician. We conducted a survey experiment during a 2022 presidential election rally in Brazil at a time of heightened affective polarization and corruption. We presented respondents with vignettes detailing a fictional corruption scheme and trial outcomes (acquittal or conviction) involving key political figures, including Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Jair Bolsonaro. The results indicate that when a court decision is consistent with citizens' electoral preferences, they are more inclined to trust the court decision and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additional Information

  • Source:Governance. 2025/04, Vol. 38, Issue 2, p1
  • Document Type:Article
  • Subject Area:Social Sciences and Humanities
  • Publication Date:2025
  • ISSN:0952-1895
  • DOI:10.1111/gove.12898
  • Accession Number:184495693
  • Copyright Statement:Copyright of Governance is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

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