Trust in legal institutions: an examination of the Philippines

Abstract

While studies have examined the correlates related to institutional trust across Asian countries, research has yet to analyze the public attitudes toward two major social control institutions in the Philippines: the police and courts. This study fills this gap in the literature by exploring the connections between social trust, institutional performance, media exposure and consumption, and trust in the police and courts. Using recent survey data from the Asian Barometer Survey, regression models were employed to assess and compare whether these factors are predictive of police and court trustworthiness. Results reveal the importance of social trust and institutional performance in predicting Filipinos' trust in the police and courts. However, media exposure and consumption were found to be largely ineffective in shaping police and court trust. Given the unique historical and political context of the Philippines, these findings contribute to existing literature and provide implications for future research and policy.