Toward Sustainability: Examining Economic Inequality and Political Trust in EU Countries

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dc.abstract.enPolitical trust is essential for implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda, particularly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions. At the same time, there has been a long-standing decline in political trust within democratic countries, which presents a considerable obstacle to the enactment of sustainable development policies. Although prior research has explored the relationship between economic conditions and political trust, evidence on how different dimensions of inequality jointly shape trust remains limited. This study addresses this gap by analysing how economic inequality, regional economic disparities, and subjective income perceptions affect political trust. Using data from the European Social Survey (Round 9), we estimate multilevel models that account for both individual- and country-level factors. The results demonstrate a negative relationship between individual income and political trust, while lower economic inequality strengthens this negative relationship. Our findings highlight that reducing economic inequality is crucial for enhancing political trust, suggesting that governments should prioritize equitable resource distribution and address regional disparities to foster trust in institutions. By integrating subjective well-being with objective economic indicators, this research offers a comprehensive view of how inequality affects political trust across the EU countries and outlines institutional and distributive conditions that support progress toward the SDGs.
dc.affiliationInstutute of Social Sciences
dc.affiliationInstytut Nauk Społecznych
dc.contributor.authorRevtiuk, Yevhen
dc.contributor.authorZelinska, Olha
dc.date.access2025-12-24
dc.date.accessioned2026-10-13T11:00:06Z
dc.date.available2026-10-13T11:00:06Z
dc.date.created2025-12-22
dc.date.issued2026-01
dc.description.abstract<jats:p>Political trust is essential for implementing the United Nations 2030 Agenda, particularly Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16 on building effective, accountable and inclusive institutions. At the same time, there has been a long-standing decline in political trust within democratic countries, which presents a considerable obstacle to the enactment of sustainable development policies. Although prior research has explored the relationship between economic conditions and political trust, evidence on how different dimensions of inequality jointly shape trust remains limited. This study addresses this gap by analysing how economic inequality, regional economic disparities, and subjective income perceptions affect political trust. Using data from the European Social Survey (Round 9), we estimate multilevel models that account for both individual- and country-level factors. The results demonstrate a negative relationship between individual income and political trust, while lower economic inequality strengthens this negative relationship. Our findings highlight that reducing economic inequality is crucial for enhancing political trust, suggesting that governments should prioritize equitable resource distribution and address regional disparities to foster trust in institutions. By integrating subjective well-being with objective economic indicators, this research offers a comprehensive view of how inequality affects political trust across the EU countries and outlines institutional and distributive conditions that support progress toward the SDGs.</jats:p>
dc.description.accesstimeat_publication
dc.description.issue1
dc.description.physical1-22
dc.description.sdgPeaceJusticeAndStrongInstitutions
dc.description.sdgReducedInequalities
dc.description.versionfinal_published
dc.description.volume18
dc.identifier.doi10.3390/su18010210
dc.identifier.eissn2071-1050
dc.identifier.issn2071-1050
dc.identifier.urihttps://share.swps.edu.pl/handle/swps/2607
dc.identifier.weblinkhttps://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/18/1/210
dc.languageen
dc.pbn.affiliationnauki socjologiczne
dc.rightsCC-BY
dc.rights.questionYes_rights
dc.share.articleOPEN_JOURNAL
dc.subject.ensustainable development
dc.subject.entriple bottom line
dc.subject.eneconomic inequality
dc.subject.enpolitical trust
dc.subject.enindividual well-being
dc.swps.sciencecloudsend
dc.titleToward Sustainability: Examining Economic Inequality and Political Trust in EU Countries
dc.title.journalSustainability
dc.typeJournalArticle
dspace.entity.typeArticle