Research recently published by Dr Ben Seyd considers what politicians can do to strengthen the public’s confidence in their work. His research suggests that trust may not be responsive to the expectations that people have of politicians; instead, trust seems more affected by perceptions of how well politicians are seen to perform. Boosting the public’s trust might therefore require improving political performance rather than simply limiting what the public expects of its elected representatives.
The paper on which this research is based is published in Political Studies and is freely available here. You can also read a blogpost Ben has written about his research here.