Affiliations: [a] Utrecht University, Utrecht School of Governance,
Bijlhouwerstraat 6, 3511 ZC Utrecht, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 30 253 14 33;
Fax: +31 30 253 72 00; E-mail: [email protected] | University of Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands | Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland
Abstract: Computer-mediated transparency is widely acknowledged to be a
powerful instrument to strengthen citizen trust in government. However,
government websites are often used as a convenient way to spread 'spinned'
policy messages with highly positive interpretations of government policies.
This paper focuses on this particular element of transparency: the extent to
which a policy message contains balanced information. A truly balanced message
should also mention dissenting viewpoints of government policies. This study
examines the effect on trust of a balanced message compared to messages subject
to varying degrees of spin. An experiment was designed to compare the effect of
a very positive policy message, a slightly positive message and a message
containing both positive and negative information. The results demonstrate that
a balanced message on a website about government policy leads to negative
evaluations of government competence to solve policy problems. Further, less
spin does not positively affect the perceived honesty and benevolence of a
government organization. This study suggests that showing balanced content
might not be helpful when it comes to increasing trust in government, and that
people might even prefer a light form of spin on government information as it
provides the image that government knows what it is doing and where it is
heading.
Keywords: Websites, experiments, trust in government, policy transparency, spin
