(Dis-)trusting Civic Institutions Across Generations

Insights from the United States and Germany

Speaker: Frank Reichert, DAAD/AGI Research Fellow
Moderator: Eric Langenbacher, Senior Fellow and Director of the Society, Culture, & Politics Program, AGI

In many countries, the apparent support for populist leaders, parties, and policies has raised concerns about democratic citizenship and resilience. Particular attention has been directed toward younger generations who, in large numbers, supported political parties rallying in favor of antidemocratic and illiberal policies in recent elections, including in the United States and Germany. This has baffled stakeholders and academics who expected a generational change leading toward increasing support for liberal policies. This webinar takes institutional (dis-)trusts as a starting point to develop a typology of individuals’ trust in civic institutions, such as courts, the police, political parties, governments, or the media. Using nationally representative data from the United States and Germany, this presentation will demonstrate that distinct patterns of trust and distrust in civic institutions seen among adults today were already visible among adolescents two decades ago. These patterns of institutional (dis-)trust among different generations and across time will be compared to describe change and stability. It will further illuminate the characteristics of those holding different (dis-)trust patterns and how these patterns are associated with illiberal and antidemocratic attitudes. Comparisons between the United States and Germany will be highlighted and discussed with respect to the possible precursors of antidemocratic sentiment and the potential implications for democratic societies.

Frank Reichert is a professor at the University of Hong Kong and an affiliate of the Research Center for Inclusive Citizenship at the Leibniz University of Hannover in Germany. He has published widely on citizenship norms, civic education, digital citizenship, and youth civic development and currently co-chairs the Standing Group on Citizenship of the European Consortium for Political Research. He previously worked at universities and research institutions in Germany and Australia and held several prestigious fellowships, including a Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship from the U.S. National Academy of Education. As an international expert, he currently contributes to the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) 2027 of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). He also co-developed a comprehensive digital competence assessment instrument and was commissioned by UNESCO to prepare a background report for the 2023 Global Education Monitoring Report.

This event is supported by the DAAD with funds from the Federal Foreign Office.