Maatschappelijke stemmingen als determinant van consumentenvertrouwen en politiek vertrouwen

Abstract

This study compares evolutions in consumer confidence and political trust in 11 European countries from 1985 to 2003. Both indicators tend to show a remarkable convergence. Belgium is the only country where we did not at first find the expected relation, but the relation reappeared once a period of extremely low political trust (1997-1998) was excluded. Specific crises in the economic or political subsystem thus seem to undermine the relation between consumer confidence and political trust. Our results suggest that political trust indicators contain more than a mere evaluation of the political situation, and that consumer confidence is composed of more than just economic evaluations or expectations. We thus claim that both indicators should not be considered as reflections of their respective societal subsystems (economy/politics). Consumer confidence and political trust are both reflections of a social mood, what explains their convergence.