Citizens typically report more trust in state and local governments than in the federal government, but that does not mean that there is no work to be done on improving citizen experience and trust. A recent study found that about 45% of Americans have a less-than-favorable view of the trustworthiness of local governments. This number has become worse since 2017, when only 40% expressed a less than favorable outlook.

Key to building trust is transparency--showing the work being done, the reasons decisions were made, as well as the process for obtaining services from government. With more and more government services moving online, it would seem that this transparency would be easier than ever to provide, but in fact, the digitization of government can often have the opposite effect. Continue reading →