Sacks, AudreyLarizza, Marco2012-04-272012-04-272012-04https://hdl.handle.net/10986/6024A broad consensus has emerged among practitioners and researchers that failure to build accountable and legitimate institutions is a critical risk factor associated with vicious circles of repeated violence. Despite this consensus, very few studies have tested the extent to which local government performance and decentralized service provision shape citizens' beliefs toward political authorities. This paper contributes to fill this gap by examining the antecedents of trustworthy local government authorities in a post-conflict and fragile setting, Sierra Leone. Taking advantage of a unique longitudinal survey, the National Public Services, it examines the impact of sub-national variation in local government performance on citizens' beliefs about the trustworthiness of local government authorities. To test the hypothesis, it uses multilevel models to exploit variation over time and within and across sub-national units in Sierra Leone. The results suggest that improvements in the quality of decentralized service delivery, as well as perceptions of local councillors' honesty, are positively associated with perceptions of local government officials as trustworthy political authorities. These findings speak to the possibility that local service provision can play a role in shaping the relationships between citizens and the state and in overcoming the root causes of fragility and conflict.CC BY 3.0 IGOACCESS TO EDUCATIONACCESS TO INFORMATIONBASIC SERVICEBRIBESCAPACITY BUILDINGCENSUS OF POPULATIONCITIZENCITIZEN NEEDSCITIZENSCIVIC ACTIVISMCIVIC ENGAGEMENTCIVIL WARCLINICSCOERCIONCOLLAPSECOMMUNITY ACTIONCOMMUNITY GROUPSCOMMUNITY MEMBERSCOMMUNITY SURVEYCOMPLAINTSCOMPLICATIONSCONFIDENCECORRUPTCORRUPTIONDEMOCRACYDEMOCRATIC ACCOUNTABILITYDEMOCRATIC PROCESSDEMOGRAPHIC FACTORSDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDEVELOPMENT PLANSDEVELOPMENT POLICYDEVELOPMENT PROCESSDEVELOPMENT PROJECTSELECTORAL COMMISSIONELFETHNIC GROUPETHNIC GROUPSEXPERIENCED VIOLENCEEXPOSURE TO VIOLENCEFOCUS GROUP DISCUSSIONSGOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITYGOVERNMENT AGENCIESGOVERNMENT CAPACITYGOVERNMENT LEADERSGOVERNMENT OFFICIALSGOVERNMENT POLICIESGOVERNMENT PROGRAMSGOVERNMENT REPRESENTATIVESGOVERNMENT SERVICESHEALTH CAREHEALTH INFRASTRUCTUREHOSPITALHOUSEHOLD LEVELHOUSEHOLD SURVEYSHYGIENEINFORMATION AVAILABILITYINTERNATIONAL COMMUNITYINVESTIGATIONISOLATIONJUSTICEKINSHIPLARGE POPULATIONLAWSLEADERSHIPLOCAL AUTHORITIESLOCAL COMMUNITIESLOCAL DEVELOPMENTLOCAL ELECTIONSLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL POPULATIONLOOTINGMALARIAMEDIAMINISTRY OF EDUCATIONMINORITYMOBILE PHONEMODERNIZATIONMONOPOLYNATIONAL ELECTIONSNATIONAL GOVERNMENTNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSNATIONAL POPULATIONNEWBORNOFFICEHOLDERSORDINARY CITIZENSOUTREACH ACTIVITIESPARTY AFFILIATIONPATRONAGEPEACEPERSONAL SAFETYPOLICEPOLICY DISCUSSIONSPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY MAKINGPOLICY RESEARCHPOLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPERPOLITICAL MOBILIZATIONPOLITICAL PARTIESPOLITICAL PARTYPOLITICAL STABILITYPOLITICIANSPOPULATION DENSITYPOPULATION SIZEPRACTITIONERSPRIMARY SCHOOLPRIVATE GAINPROGRESSPUBLIC GOODSPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC OFFICIALSPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICESQUALITY OF EDUCATIONQUALITY OF HEALTH CAREQUALITY OF SERVICESRADIOREFUGEEREFUGEESRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN CITIZENSRESOURCE ALLOCATIONSRESPECTRULING PARTYRURAL AREASSANCTIONSANITATIONSCARCE RESOURCESSERVICE DELIVERYSERVICE PROVIDERSSERVICE PROVISIONSERVICE QUALITYSMALL VILLAGESSOCIAL COHESIONSOCIAL POLICIESSOCIAL PROGRAMSSOCIAL TENSIONSSOCIAL WELFARESPOUSETECHNICAL ASSISTANCETELEVISIONTRANSPARENCYTRUST IN GOVERNMENTUNIONSURBAN AREASVIOLENCEWARTIME VIOLENCEWorld Bank10.1596/1813-9450-6021