Stratified Political Trust in a Nondemocratic Society: Magnitude, Forms, and Sources of Political Trust in Urban China

There has been a vibrant literature on political trust in China. However, a closer examination of this large literature points to no clear consensus on the measurement and sources of such support. To contribute to this literature, this study is to explore the magnitude, forms, and sources of political trust in urban China. In this study, we explore an alternative approach to the study of political trust, which treats political trust along two straightforward yet distinct dimensions: horizontal and vertical dimensions. Based on this approach, we find that people’s political trust in urban China varies vertically, across different levels of government institutions (e.g., central and local governments), while it changes little horizontally, among different government institutions at the same level. Moreover, we find that the formation of political trust in each level of government institutions — along the vertical dimension — is shaped by a distinct combination of sociopolitical factors. We also explore some important theoretical and political implications from our findings.