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21. The legacies of armed conflict: insights from stayees and returning forced migrants

Author:
Isabel Ruiz and Carlos Vargas-Silva
Publication Date:
02-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
United Nations University
Abstract:
How does conflict, displacement, and return shape trust, reconciliation, and community engagement? And what is the relative impact of exposure to violence on these indicators? In this paper we explore these questions by focusing on the legacies of armed conflict and the differences between those who stayed in their communities of origin during the conflict (stayees) and those who were displaced internally and internationally and who returned home over time (returnees). The results, which rely on analysis of data we collected in Burundi, suggest that internal returnees have significantly lower levels of trust, reconciliation, and community engagement than stayees, whereas the differences between international returnees and stayees are mostly statistically insignificant. Greater exposure to violence has a more positive effect on trust for returnees compared to stayees. On the other hand greater exposure to violence has a more negative effect on reconciliation and community engagement for returnees compared to stayees.
Topic:
Displacement, Conflict, Reconciliation, Trust, and Migrants
Political Geography:
Global Focus

22. Public perception on Trust, Corruption and Integrity of Public Institutions in Kosovo

Author:
Plator Avdiu
Publication Date:
12-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
Security institutions in Kosovo are constantly maintaining, and in some cases, increasing their trust among the citizens, thus resulting as the most trustworthy institutions compared to other sectors. Kosovo Security Force is the most trusted institution with 83 percent of trust, followed by Emergency Management Agency with 73 percent, and Kosovo Police, which is trusted by 72 percent of respondents. Two other security institutions have marked significant increase in 2022: around 60 percent of respondents trust the Police Inspectorate of Kosovo and 51 percent trust the Kosovo Intelligence Agency. This is the first time that both institutions gained the confidence of more than 50 percent. The President of Kosovo, with 59 percent, and Municipalities, with 55 percent of trust, are ranked as the most trusted among the central and local institutions followed by Kosovo Customs with 46 percent.
Topic:
Security, Corruption, Institutions, and Trust
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

23. The impact of disinformation and political polarization during COVID-19 pandemic in Kosovo

Author:
Shpat Balaj and Skender Perteshi
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
This report is an attempt to document instances of disinformation and political polarization during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kosovo and to trace their implications in shaping the public’s attitudes to the pandemic and the pandemic’s management. Through a set of mixed methods, which include desk research, media monitoring, focus group queries and public opinion instruments, the report identifies the most frequent disinformation narratives encountered in Kosovo’s public domain, studies the way they connect to global and regional narratives related to COVID-19 pandemic and investigates how key upheavals in the country’s political environment undermined Kosovo’s vaccination bid and contributed to public’s vaccines reluctance and the subsequent record number of deaths. Through examples in Kosovo, the report corroborates recent scholarly finds that examine the public’s trust in government and that country’s vulnerability to disinformation. The report shows that the trust towards the institutions, and the politicization of public health issues, affects the public perceptions around public health issues, resulting in an environment with more potential for the penetration of disinformation. In this vein, the report concludes that the mainstream media’s efforts to produce and provide credible information to the public about COVID-19 is challenged by the presence of false and fake news and conspiracies about the virus and the pandemic disseminated primarily through social media and unverified online sources.
Topic:
COVID-19, Disinformation, Polarization, and Trust
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

24. Citizens perceptions of integrity of public institutions in Kosovo

Author:
Shpat Balaj
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
The Kosovo Security Forces, the Kosovo Police, the President of Kosovo and the Municipalities are the most trusted public institutions in Kosovo, with over 50 percent of respondents declaring that they trust or completely trust these institutions. This is followed by the Kosovo Customs and the Kosovo Intelligence Agency with 45 percent of respondents sharing such an opinion. On the other hand, less than 40 percent of the respondents declared that they trust or completely trust Courts, Prosecution, Kosovo Correctional Services, the Government of Kosovo and the Kosovo Assembly. The results of the report show that citizens of Kosovo find the security institutions more reliable with a higher level of trust towards them, compared to other public institutions in Kosovo, such as the justice institutions which citizens perceive less trustworthy and with weak integrity. The citizen confidence in the institutions of the Courts and the Prosecution in Kosovo has been consistently in decline, and this is concerning. Citizens have higher confidence in the public institutions from the central level, especially when compared to the previous year (2020), however, the skepticism towards these institutions generally prevails.
Topic:
Corruption, Governance, Public Opinion, Institutions, and Trust
Political Geography:
Europe, Kosovo, and Balkans

25. How Social Trust Shapes Civil Resistance: Lessons from Africa

Author:
Jacob S. Lewis
Publication Date:
08-2021
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
International Center on Nonviolent Conflict (ICNC)
Abstract:
What role does trust play in shaping the outcomes of civil resistance campaigns? Trust has been found to be a critical factor in building political and social capital, encouraging group cohesion, and overcoming collective action problems. Despite this, trust has not been directly addressed by the civil resistance scholarship. This monograph addresses this lacuna by examining how trust shapes – and is shaped by – three levels of mobilization: trust at the individual level, trust within activist groups, and trust across resistance campaigns.
Topic:
Mobilization, Local Cooperation, Trust, and Civil Resistance
Political Geography:
Africa

26. Mediating effect of Indonesia’s public trust on national security from the sense of safety, knowledge, and willingness to participate in state defence efforts

Author:
Dadang Mas Bakar, Syamsunasir, and Agus Adriyanto
Publication Date:
12-2021
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Security and Defence Quarterly
Institution:
War Studies University
Abstract:
Several studies that focus on the willingness to participate show that trust is a vital variable in mediating a person’s disposition to do so. This study examines the role of public trust in national security as a mediating variable of a sense of security and knowledge of the willingness to participate in state defence efforts. The data was collected via a questionnaire distributed to 435 respondents across Indonesia. We used a simple random sampling method; we then analysed using LISREL with Structural Equation Model (SEM). We found that trust cannot mediate a sense of safety and knowledge on the willingness to participate. An exciting finding was that knowledge affects trust, but sense of safety does not affect trust. This is interesting because it contradicts many studies related to political trust, when the willingness to participate is directly influenced by a sense of security and knowledge related to national security. Thus, to increase the willingness to participate in state defence efforts, it is necessary to increase the community’s sense of security and knowledge related to national security. In this case, we recommend providing education related to defence and security to the community and increasing the community’s sense of security.
Topic:
Defense Policy, National Security, Participation, and Trust
Political Geography:
Indonesia and Southeast Asia

27. The Preserving Effect of Social Protection on Social Cohesion in Times of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Author:
Christoph Strupat
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
This paper examines empirically whether social protection in the form of adapted social assistance programmes are affecting social cohesion during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using unique primary data from nationally representative, in-person surveys from Kenya allows for the exploration of the effect of social protection on attributes of social cohesion (trust, cooperation and identity). The analysis employs a difference-in-differences approach that compares households with and without social assistance coverage before and after the first wave of the pandemic. The findings suggest that social assistance can have a positive effect on attributes of social cohesion, but only in regions that faced larger restrictions due to lockdown policies. Turning to the analysis without focusing on lockdown regions, social assistance does not affect attributes of social cohesion. Overall, the results suggest that only under specific circumstances existing national social assistance programmes and their adaptation in times of large covariate shocks, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, can be beneficial for social cohesion.
Topic:
Social Cohesion, COVID-19, Trust, and Cooperation
Political Geography:
Kenya and Africa

28. How does exposure to conflict events shape social trust? A spatiotemporal approach

Author:
Jacob S. Lewis and Sedef A. Topal
Publication Date:
10-2021
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Afrobarometer
Abstract:
This article examines how proximate exposure to violent conflict events affects levels of social trust. We argue that since exposure to conflict heightens perceptions of threat, individuals who were proximately exposed to conflict events should exhibit lower levels of generalized and out-group social trust than individuals not subject to such exposure. We also argue that individuals subject to exposure to conflict should show higher levels of in-group social trust due to existential concerns that increase their desire to find security within their group. Using geocoded survey data from more than 25,000 respondents in 16 African countries surveyed in 2005 and from the Armed Conflict Location Event Database, we draw spatiotemporal buffers around each respondent. We find that exposure to violent conflict events reduces all forms of social trust across all models. Such findings run counter to arguments suggesting that proximate exposure to violent conflict increases in-group social trust.
Topic:
Civil Society, Conflict, Social Order, and Trust
Political Geography:
Africa

29. Kosovo Security Barometer - Tenth Edition

Author:
Shpat Balaj
Publication Date:
11-2020
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
The tenth edition of the Kosovo Security Barometer, respectively the first edition of the Western Balkans Security Barometer, consists of three main chapters: 1. Citizens’ trust towards Security, Justice and Central Institutions; 2. Citizens’ perceptions on the corruption of the key institutions; 3. Frequency of citizens’ contact with key security and justice institutions. While this report provides a general overview of citizens' perceptions on the above-mentioned chapters, it also presents the data based on Gender, Region, Area (Urban/Rural), Age (18-35/36+) and Ethnicity of the respondents. In addition, the report offers additional analysis on why such citizens’ perception towards the issues provided in the report are present. This was enabled by conducting two focus groups with field researchers - who provided first-hand information from the field in addition to the fixed responses of the citizens’ and two focus groups with representatives of institutions and other stakeholders that are subject of KSB analysis - who provided their perspective on why such perceptions are present and offered potential solutions on how to further the citizens' perception towards them.
Topic:
Security, Public Opinion, Institutions, Survey, and Trust
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Kosovo

30. Kosovo Security Barometer - Ninth Edition

Author:
Donika Marku
Publication Date:
12-2019
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Kosovar Centre for Security Studies (KCSS)
Abstract:
The Kosovo Security Barometer (KSB) is a distinctive tool through which the Kosovo Center for Security Studies (KCSS) measures public perceptions in Kosovo. The ninth edition of the Kosovo Security Barometer consists of two chapters. While the first chapter measures citizens’ perceptions of trust in security, justice, central and local institutions, 1 the second chapter presents citizens’ perceptions of corruption in these institutions.
Topic:
Security, Corruption, Public Opinion, and Trust
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe and Kosovo