The effects of judicial transparency on public trust: Evidence from a field experiment

Abstract

Trust in judges is needed for voluntary acceptance of judicial decisions, and judicial transparency is thought to strengthen trust. It exposes the public to symbols that embrace a 'myth of legality' which is expected to have a positive effect on trust. We assess a specific understanding of transparency and trust by looking at the moderating effect of knowledge and predisposition to trust. We report on a field experiment which investigates the effect of a Dutch television series on trust. Findings show that judicial transparency indeed has a positive effect on trust. Moreover, our analysis demonstrates that it has the strongest effects on individuals with medium prior knowledge about the judiciary. However, higher predisposition to trust mitigated the effect of transparency, indicating a ceiling effect. This sustains the idea that the unique traits of visual judicial transparency expose typical judicial symbols that imply that impartiality which increases trust in judges.