Building and Eroding the Citizen–State Relationship in the Era of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Towards a New Conceptual Model of Institutional Trust
In liberal welfare states, algorithmic decision-making systems are being increasingly deployed, impacting the citizen–state relationship in a multitude of positive and negative ways. This theoretical paper aims to develop a novel conceptual model—the institutional trust model—to analyse how the impl...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Social Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/178 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850087901050699776 |
|---|---|
| author | Jaana Parviainen Anne Koski Laura Eilola Hannele Palukka Paula Alanen Camilla Lindholm |
| author_facet | Jaana Parviainen Anne Koski Laura Eilola Hannele Palukka Paula Alanen Camilla Lindholm |
| author_sort | Jaana Parviainen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In liberal welfare states, algorithmic decision-making systems are being increasingly deployed, impacting the citizen–state relationship in a multitude of positive and negative ways. This theoretical paper aims to develop a novel conceptual model—the institutional trust model—to analyse how the implementation of automated systems erodes or strengthens institutional trust between policymakers and citizens. In this approach, institutional trust does not simply mean public trust in institutions (though it is an important component of democratic societies); instead, it refers to the responsive interactions between governmental institutions and citizens. Currently, very little is known about policymakers’ trust or distrust in automated systems and how their trust or distrust in citizens is reflected in their interest in implementing these systems in public administration. By analysing a sample of recent studies on automated decision-making, we explored the potential of the institutional trust model to identify how the four dimensions of trust can be used to explore the responsive relationship between citizens and the state. This article contributes to the formulation of research questions on automated decision-making in the future, underlining that the impact of automated systems on the socio-economic rights of marginalised citizens in public services and the policymakers’ motivations to deploy automated systems have been overlooked. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-5bbb751019884124b41ad28e68261a21 |
| institution | DOAJ |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-5bbb751019884124b41ad28e68261a212025-08-20T02:43:07ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602025-03-0114317810.3390/socsci14030178Building and Eroding the Citizen–State Relationship in the Era of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Towards a New Conceptual Model of Institutional TrustJaana Parviainen0Anne Koski1Laura Eilola2Hannele Palukka3Paula Alanen4Camilla Lindholm5Faculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, FI-33520 Tampere, FinlandFaculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, FI-33520 Tampere, FinlandFaculty of Information Technology and Communication Sciences, Tampere University, FI-33520 Tampere, FinlandFaculty of Social Sciences, Tampere University, FI-33520 Tampere, FinlandFaculty of Education and Culture, Tampere University, FI-33520 Tampere, FinlandDepartment of Finnish, Finno-Ugrian and Scandinavian Studies, University of Helsinki, 4, FI-00100 Helsinki, FinlandIn liberal welfare states, algorithmic decision-making systems are being increasingly deployed, impacting the citizen–state relationship in a multitude of positive and negative ways. This theoretical paper aims to develop a novel conceptual model—the institutional trust model—to analyse how the implementation of automated systems erodes or strengthens institutional trust between policymakers and citizens. In this approach, institutional trust does not simply mean public trust in institutions (though it is an important component of democratic societies); instead, it refers to the responsive interactions between governmental institutions and citizens. Currently, very little is known about policymakers’ trust or distrust in automated systems and how their trust or distrust in citizens is reflected in their interest in implementing these systems in public administration. By analysing a sample of recent studies on automated decision-making, we explored the potential of the institutional trust model to identify how the four dimensions of trust can be used to explore the responsive relationship between citizens and the state. This article contributes to the formulation of research questions on automated decision-making in the future, underlining that the impact of automated systems on the socio-economic rights of marginalised citizens in public services and the policymakers’ motivations to deploy automated systems have been overlooked.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/178institutional trustautomated decision-makingcitizen–state relationshippublic administrationwelfare service |
| spellingShingle | Jaana Parviainen Anne Koski Laura Eilola Hannele Palukka Paula Alanen Camilla Lindholm Building and Eroding the Citizen–State Relationship in the Era of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Towards a New Conceptual Model of Institutional Trust Social Sciences institutional trust automated decision-making citizen–state relationship public administration welfare service |
| title | Building and Eroding the Citizen–State Relationship in the Era of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Towards a New Conceptual Model of Institutional Trust |
| title_full | Building and Eroding the Citizen–State Relationship in the Era of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Towards a New Conceptual Model of Institutional Trust |
| title_fullStr | Building and Eroding the Citizen–State Relationship in the Era of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Towards a New Conceptual Model of Institutional Trust |
| title_full_unstemmed | Building and Eroding the Citizen–State Relationship in the Era of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Towards a New Conceptual Model of Institutional Trust |
| title_short | Building and Eroding the Citizen–State Relationship in the Era of Algorithmic Decision-Making: Towards a New Conceptual Model of Institutional Trust |
| title_sort | building and eroding the citizen state relationship in the era of algorithmic decision making towards a new conceptual model of institutional trust |
| topic | institutional trust automated decision-making citizen–state relationship public administration welfare service |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/14/3/178 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jaanaparviainen buildinganderodingthecitizenstaterelationshipintheeraofalgorithmicdecisionmakingtowardsanewconceptualmodelofinstitutionaltrust AT annekoski buildinganderodingthecitizenstaterelationshipintheeraofalgorithmicdecisionmakingtowardsanewconceptualmodelofinstitutionaltrust AT lauraeilola buildinganderodingthecitizenstaterelationshipintheeraofalgorithmicdecisionmakingtowardsanewconceptualmodelofinstitutionaltrust AT hannelepalukka buildinganderodingthecitizenstaterelationshipintheeraofalgorithmicdecisionmakingtowardsanewconceptualmodelofinstitutionaltrust AT paulaalanen buildinganderodingthecitizenstaterelationshipintheeraofalgorithmicdecisionmakingtowardsanewconceptualmodelofinstitutionaltrust AT camillalindholm buildinganderodingthecitizenstaterelationshipintheeraofalgorithmicdecisionmakingtowardsanewconceptualmodelofinstitutionaltrust |