The Vicious Circle: Does disappointment with political authorities contribute to political passivity in Latvia?

The reaction of citizens deeply disappointed with their government and its decisions differs from country to country, and in some cases, such as Latvia during the recent economic crisis, has been surprisingly passive. In this paper I argue that political passivity can be partly explained by psychological mechanisms triggered by constant under-performance and unresponsiveness of political authorities. Using International Social Survey Program 2006-2007 data, I construct a structural equation model which shows that government's performance can facilitate or hinder the development of civil society through its impact on (1) a sense of political efficacy, (2) political competence, and (3) interpersonal trust. Poor institutional performance and the following loss of trust in political authorities has a negative effect on people's perceptions of politics, of themselves and of each other, discouraging further engagement in all kinds of political activities. Considering the importance of civic participation for the quality of governance this creates a vicious circle which might not be easy to break. Finally, several theoretical perspectives are discussed that help to explain the formation and persistence of the vicious circle.