Populism as a political trust booster? Populist support and degrees of political power in Central Europe

ABSTRACT The present article examines how voters’ support for populist parties and the degree of political power wielded by populist parties influence political trust in Central Europe. In countries where a populist party has undivided power, populist supporters are, when compared to supporters of other parties, more likely to trust political institutions. These differences result from ideological congruence as well as favourable assessments of how democratically a country is governed. Where populists do not control the government, only populist parties' supporters who have very favourable assessments of democratic governance in their own country are more likely to trust political institutions compared with supporters of other parties.