How can English Government Gain Trust - Article Example

Introduction The method of interviewing is an ancient way of gathering information. The effectiveness of interviewing is currently being recognized in the era of the 21st century because it permits the interviewer to analyze and evaluate body gestures of the interviewee that can be taken as clues towards the quality of information being provided by the responder. However there are many physical symptoms associated with certain types of psychological processes such as when the interviewee is telling a lie then he or she will occupy less space and tend to shrink. Moreover if a respondent is nervous then he or she might bite his or her nails. The in-depth interviews are also used in conducting research in social sciences whereas it is also considered as an effective method of carrying out criminal interrogation. Additionally it is believed that all of the interviews are psychological because humans tend to communicate ninety five percent of their ideas non-verbally and rest of them is conveyed with the help of conventional means. In the light of the above statement, an effective and experienced interviewer must go with an agenda to extract information from a gesture reading of his or her respondents. Literature Review In the view of many scholars it is the prime duty of the government to gain an adequate level of public trust because governmental bodies are fundamentally supposed to guard the interest of people. If the general public has not been able to trust government officials anymore then it simply means that government has failed in terms of representing interests of the public. However it is also important to note that ordinary people cannot decipher the level of government’s ability to fulfill public interest and therefore the duty of evaluating governmental machinery’s tendency to serve the public lies with political analysts, writers and other intellectual persons such as religious scholars. The prevailing law and order situation in the society is considered as an effective measure of government’s power to protect public interests. Moreover the financial well-being of each and every citizen can also be taken as a mean of determining governmental effectiveness. Additionally citizens trust those governments that provide them with state of the art medical services at an affordable price. Based on the above argument government can win public trust by offering an ample amount of job and business opportunities while it has to provide healthcare and safety services as well. According to Offe the governments should work towards providing the citizens with a fulfilling life (42). The governmental bodies can do that by bettering the overall law and order situation of the society and it is also expected to sponsor sporting musical and cultural events in a particular society. Levi added that the role of government in terms of releasing the citizens from a job and work stress is a significant indicator of growing social activities in the community (6). Silcock identified electronic form of government as an ideal way of providing public services because in this way the governmental issues are run with the help of computerized and automated system. The e-mechanism causes the problems of people to resolve quickly that fosters trust and respect for the government (88). According to Wang and Wart the governments that involve citizens in the decision making process will reap more trust than those that follow an authoritative style of governance (268). Thus the decentralized chain of command can really help the government in fostering trust within people. Nevertheless it is interesting to know that those governments that follow the raw public opinion in order to devise policies tend to fail because the mere public viewpoint is a crude way of policy development. The governments are suggested to invite the opinion of experts before making critical decisions. Liu and Chetal wrote that governments should ensure just and fair use of citizens’ sensitive information. It is because unethical and illegal use of information from governmental special services is the most notable cause of spreading distrust in the society (293). Sundquist on the other hand found that coalition governments are famous for promoting distrust and unrest in the communities (633) because these governments are formed by joining a number of parties. However these political parties have different and diverging agendas and therefore they apply opposing strategies in several regions. In this way the process of national economic development experiences hindrance. The lack of integration among public service policies of local government cause people not to trust the government at all. The local governments are suggested to develop an integrative plan for supporting developing in all walks of life. But for this to happen the parties have to forego their individual differences in order to support the greater good. Summary of Interviews In order to complete this project, the researcher has to conduct two in-depth interviews on the topic of “How a coalition Government can gain public trust in England”. The first interviewee is an economic expert and who has refused to be identified. The transcript of the interview is as follows Interviewer: Sir, I would like to welcome you Interviewee: All pleasure is mine thank you Interviewer: Is the current coalition government in England enjoys a notable level of public trust? Interviewee: No Interviewer: And why is that? Interviewee: because they are not causing significant economic growth in the country Interviewer: What is the link between public trust and economic growth please elaborate? Interviewee: It is human nature to trust and respect those who help in keeping the belly full and humans are fundamentally designed to watch their self-interest Interviewer: What should the government do to foster economic growth in the country? Interviewee: Government should lower taxes, interest rate, import duties so that FDI can flood into the economy Interviewer: What are the benefits of all these changes? Interviewee: The economy will expand and people will have jobs and businesses to do which will cause their incomes to increase and their lives will become happier in time Interviewer: What if your suggestion fails to deliver the intended goals? Interviewee: You are looking for perfection my friend but as humans we cannot attain yet, we can strive for it. Interviewer: Your point being? Interviewee: I mean if this does not work we could try something else Interviewer: What exactly? Interviewee: We can establish new industries that should be helped by the government by the means of subsidiaries Interviewer: But coalition government is notorious for inefficiencies? Interviewee: Yes, but it is time that all parties work together and form a developmental plan for every walk of life because this is the only way we can fight this off Interviewer: What industry is the most important regarding the economic development of England? Interviewee: I suppose services industry of all types because their revenue generation cycle is shorter and therefore they can revive our country in no time Interviewer: Thank you for the time Interviewee: You are welcome my friend Transcript of the Second Interview This interview has been taken from a Paralegal Expert that also refused to reveal his identity Interviewer: Hi, How are you sir? Interviewee: I am fine Interviewer: I am interested in your view about the deteriorating level of Public Trust in English government Interviewee: Yes, the condition in this regard is very grim because people are not trusting government as they did in the past Interviewer: What is the reason for this? Interviewee: First of all, our legal system is not working properly crime rates are increasing at this point and therefore people are losing faith in government’s ability to protect them anymore Interviewer: What can be done about this problem? Interviewee: Very good question, the government can start with stricting the punishments for the crimes and at this stage reinstatement of death sentence would not be such a bad idea Interviewer: Is death sentence not ruthless? Interviewee: Yes it is but we have to get ruthless in order to stop the crimes because it is the time when government should practice its power to stop criminals Interviewer: I am confused about the relation between lower crime rate and public trust, please clarify Interviewee: It is the basic concept of the legal world if you want to win the trust of any person then help him or her at the difficult time. A friend in need is a friend indeed Interviewer: Which is more important economic growth or legal environment with reference to the public trust Interviewee: Of course, the legal environment Interviewer: Why is that? Interviewee: because it is the common psyche of investor to invest in an economy where law and order situation is stable. Additionally, investors always seek protection of their infrastructure and if the society does not provide it then they move on by de-investing Interviewer: What is the most significant thing after legal environment that can foster public trust? Interviewee: Healthcare because if the government can somehow prolong the public life span then they will initiate to trust the system once again Interviewer: What do you recommend to government regarding strengthening public trust? Interviewee: I would recommend that they should make a sincere effort in terms of fulfilling all of the public needs Interviewer: Is the condition repairable? Interviewee: Yes, of course if we try harder and get the legal system online that will attract the investors and our local industry will flourish once again. Interviewer: I appreciate your time Interviewee: You are welcome Conclusion In the light of both interviews this paper concludes that English government can enhance public trust with the help of empowering legal system and the business community. References Levi, M. Trust and Governance. New York: Russell Sage Foundation, 1998. Online Liu, P and A Chetal. "Trust-Based Secure Information Sharing Between Federal Government Agencies." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (2005): pp.283-298 Online. Offe, C. Democracy and trust. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press , 1999. Online Silcock, R. "What is e-Government?" Parliamentary Affairs 54(1) (2001): pp.88-101. Online Sundquist, J. "Needed: A Political Theory for the New Era of Coalition Government in the United States ." Political Science Quarterly 103(4) (1988): pp.613-635. Online Wang, X and M Wart. "When Public Participation in Administration Leads to Trust: An Empirical Assessment of Managers’ Perceptions." Public Administration Review 1(1) (2007): pp.265-278. Online Read More