Party politics, political leaders and trust in government in Australia

The diminishing trust in government observed in some countries over recent decades has been linked to theories about declining social capital in the l ate twentieth century. The best evidence available for Australia suggests t hat, rather than moving inexorably downward, political trust is cyclical, A t least part of the reason would appear to be that trust in government is l inked to party politics and in particular to the standing of political part y leaders. This paper explores patterns of political trust in Australia, us ing survey data generated over a period of almost thirty years.