September 2025
(date and time to be confirmed)
Join us for an insightful conversation with Valerie Braithwaite as she presents ideas from her chapter, Trust Norms as Hope for a Trustworthy Government, featured in the recently published Handbook on Trust in Public Governance (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2025).
In this thought-provoking webinar, Valerie Braithwaite will explore how shared expectations of trustworthiness – "trust norms" – can guide both governments and citizens in rebuilding public trust. Trust is fragile – especially when trust norms are broken. Based on chapter 22 in the Handbook on Trust in Public Governance, this webinar examines how the breach of trust norms by citizens or government leads to a downward spiral in the trust-trustworthiness relationship, and what can be done to reverse it. Reversing this spiral requires public acknowledgement of the breach and an active process to affirm trust norms, repair damage, and, when necessary, undertake structural reform to prevent future harm. Actioning trust norms is an olive branch for resetting the trust-trustworthiness relationship for most people, most of the time. But trust norms lose potency among a minority who have slipped into motivational postures of game playing and disengagement (dismissive defiance). Citizen engagement with government then can be reduced to transactions involving special deals and coercion. Too much dismissive defiance may wear down public hope for democratic governance with integrity and cooperation, opening the door to authoritarian rule.
What you'll gain from this webinar:
The role of trust norms in maintaining a healthy democracy
How trust can be rebuilt through acknowledgement and reform
The dangers of disengagement and defiance in citizen-government relations
A chance to engage with others interested in public governance and trust
Find out more about the Edward Elgar Handbook on Trust in Public Governance.
Webinar programme
- Welcome and introduction by Frédérique Six, editor of the Handbook on Trust in Public Governance (VU Amsterdam & University of Antwerp)
- Takeaways from the chapter "Trust Norms as Hope for a Trustworthy Government" by Valerie Braithwaite (RegNet, School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University)
- Q&A
Speaker bio
- Valerie Braithwaite is an Emeritus Professor in the School of Regulation and Global Governance, Australian National University (ANU). She researches regulatory decision-making that aspires to be moral, just, and beneficial, and in turn elicits cooperation, trustworthiness, and hope among those being regulated. Her books include Trust and Governance (co-edited with Margaret Levi), Hope, Power and Governance, Taxing Democracy, Defiance in Taxation and Governance, Restorative and Responsive Human Services (with Gale Burford and John Braithwaite), Shame Management through Reintegration (with Eliza Ahmed, Nathan Harris, and John Braithwaite), and Regulating Aged Care (with John Braithwaite and Toni Makkai).
Practical information
- Date & time – September 2025 (date and time to be confirmed)
- Venue – Online, via the Microsoft Teams platform.
- Webinar link – The Microsoft Teams link to join the webinar will be shared here as soon as the date and time are confirmed.
- Register for webinar updates – Register here to receive updates on the GOVTRUST Webinar Series. Please find the access link for this webinar above.