Russel Sage Foundation

Transitional regimes, such as the establishment of South Africa's fully inclusive democracy after many years of apartheid, often involve re-establishing trust between citizens and formerly corrupt courts. Clearly, citizens’ trust in local courts will take time to develop, particularly when living in an uncertain or unstable political environment. People's confidence that the judicial branch will efficiently adjudicate cases, control court-related corruption, or maintain independence from the executive branch may contribute to establishing trust in government over the long run.

To explore this relationship, Gabriella Montinola will analyze individual’s evaluations of local courts in the Philippines, a low-trust society in an emerging democracy. Using survey data about the performance of various court levels in the Philippines between 1985 and 2001, she will investigate how much confidence Philippinos have in their local courts. She will consider various explanations for observed levels of trust, such as the perception of the performance of judges, direct experience of the respondents with the court system, and experience with corrupt public officials. Montinola will evaluate responses that relate to the perception of judges and how corruptible they seem, their knowledge of the law, and the level of efficiency in the courts. She will also consider whether confidence in local courts improved with judicial reforms.