Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
JOURNAL OF GOVERNANCE AND REGULATION, cilt.14, sa.2, ss.224-233, 2025 (Scopus)
The impact of transparency and participation on trust has been
addressed in various studies. It is generally accepted that citizens’
trust in governments and public administrations increases when
transparency and participation increase (Kiss et al., 2022). Unlike
the others, this study aims to reveal the mediating effect of
participation in the relationship between transparency and trust at
the local government level. For this purpose, the data collected
from citizens in the Uşak province of Turkey were analyzed using
structural equation modeling. First, as in many studies, the results
reveal a positive and statistically significant effect of transparency
and participation on trust. When the results regarding
the mediating effect of participation, which constitutes the focus of
the study, are examined, it is seen that this effect is partially
realized. In other words, in our sample, participation, to some
extent, increases citizens’ perception of transparency, which
contributes positively to citizens’ trust in local government units.
The low mediation effect in our study can be attributed primarily
to the current democratic and political-cultural structure and
the inability to operate democratic governance and active
citizenship mechanisms properly.