Quality of schooling and political trust among students

Political trust is a fundamental component of democratic stability, yet its relationship with the quality of schooling remains underexplored. This study examines how both student-level perceptions of schooling—measured through distributive justice, procedural fairness, and functional effectiveness—a...

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Main Author: Bilal Hassan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2025-06-01
Series:Frontiers in Political Science
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1389088/full
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author Bilal Hassan
author_facet Bilal Hassan
author_sort Bilal Hassan
collection DOAJ
description Political trust is a fundamental component of democratic stability, yet its relationship with the quality of schooling remains underexplored. This study examines how both student-level perceptions of schooling—measured through distributive justice, procedural fairness, and functional effectiveness—and national-level investment in education influence political trust across 22 European countries. Using data from Round 2 of the European Social Survey (2004) and national-level education expenditure from the World Bank (2004–2006), this study employs multilevel modeling to assess the impact of quality of schooling on political trust. The results reveal that students’ perceptions of distributive justice, procedural fairness and functional effectiveness significantly impact political trust, alongside national-level spending in education. These findings highlight the role of education in shaping political attitudes and suggest that government commitment to educational quality can enhance trust in political institutions. The study offers important implications for policymakers, particularly in the context of ongoing debates on education privatization and public investment in schooling.
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publishDate 2025-06-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Political Science
spelling doaj-art-9f831932150e40a39de2fb94de4cc63b2025-08-20T03:19:23ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Political Science2673-31452025-06-01710.3389/fpos.2025.13890881389088Quality of schooling and political trust among studentsBilal HassanPolitical trust is a fundamental component of democratic stability, yet its relationship with the quality of schooling remains underexplored. This study examines how both student-level perceptions of schooling—measured through distributive justice, procedural fairness, and functional effectiveness—and national-level investment in education influence political trust across 22 European countries. Using data from Round 2 of the European Social Survey (2004) and national-level education expenditure from the World Bank (2004–2006), this study employs multilevel modeling to assess the impact of quality of schooling on political trust. The results reveal that students’ perceptions of distributive justice, procedural fairness and functional effectiveness significantly impact political trust, alongside national-level spending in education. These findings highlight the role of education in shaping political attitudes and suggest that government commitment to educational quality can enhance trust in political institutions. The study offers important implications for policymakers, particularly in the context of ongoing debates on education privatization and public investment in schooling.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1389088/fullpolitical trustquality of schoolingmicro-performancemacro-performancemultilevel analysis
spellingShingle Bilal Hassan
Quality of schooling and political trust among students
Frontiers in Political Science
political trust
quality of schooling
micro-performance
macro-performance
multilevel analysis
title Quality of schooling and political trust among students
title_full Quality of schooling and political trust among students
title_fullStr Quality of schooling and political trust among students
title_full_unstemmed Quality of schooling and political trust among students
title_short Quality of schooling and political trust among students
title_sort quality of schooling and political trust among students
topic political trust
quality of schooling
micro-performance
macro-performance
multilevel analysis
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpos.2025.1389088/full
work_keys_str_mv AT bilalhassan qualityofschoolingandpoliticaltrustamongstudents