This Afrobarometer dispatch explores whether African citizens think that political institutions – ranging from the state presidency to local government councils – are worthy of their trust and whether public trust matters for development outcomes. We focus on the popular trustworthiness of institutions as a convenient shorthand way to summarize the quality and capacity of political institutions from a public opinion perspective.

The analysis unfolds in three stages. First, we describe cross-country variations in levels of citizen trust in several types of state institutions and trace trends in these attitudes over time. Second, we identify a major – perhaps causal – factor that explains institutional distrust, namely public perceptions that state officials are corrupt. Third, we show links between trustworthy institutions and selected development outcomes, suggesting that institutions earning the public’s trust are essential to the successful pursuit of development.