Trust is like petrol for an engine. When it runs low, it is forced to slow down. It may be the most beautiful and powerful car ever, but without fuel it is forced to travel slowly, if not to stop. Out of metaphor, trust is a resource that is as immaterial as it is concrete, because in its lightness it fuels everyday choices: it is an orientation tool. And in the North-East - in good company with the rest of the country - this dimension is rarefied. We trust the entrepreneurs of small and medium-sized enterprises, the police force, and the President of the Republic Mattarella. If we exclude family, friendship and more strictly community circles, the credit enjoyed by various collective and institutional actors is rather rarefied. The population appears reluctant and disenchanted, sometimes disgusted. On the other hand, even if we only refer to recent events (local banks, corruption,...), it is easy to understand the reasons that drive the population to such orientations. Yet trust and reputation are fundamental dimensions that guide choices. All the more so in a highly uncertain context such as the current one, they become a valuable element to hold on to. However, they do not grow spontaneously, but develop by virtue of tangible actions. It takes a long time to establish trust, just as it takes very little to lose it. Research on public trust in certain institutions largely reflects this detachment, but with some surprises.
First of all, there are three aspects to which north-easterners give a positive assessment: small and medium-sized entrepreneurs (69.5%), the police (63.1%) and the President of the Republic (51.2%). The exponents of the widespread economy, the protection of security and the institutional guarantee constitute the three pivots in which the majority recognises itself and attributes expectations. Everything else takes second place, and in several cases with absolutely marginal evaluations. Thus, the North-East assigns SME owners the greatest reputation. Small and medium-sized enterprises constitute the connective tissue of the production system, they are rooted in the territory and over the years - despite the difficulties of the crisis - have been able to resist. Above all, they also represent a plausible horizon for many employees. Suffice it to consider that - as the CMR-Centro Studi Confindustria research shows - more than half of the current entrepreneurs in the North-East (59.0%) come from the ranks of technicians and blue collar workers. In this sense, there is a sort of reciprocity between broad spheres of society and businesses, to which a positive value is attributed. Reciprocity that dwells more in Veneto (71.7%) and Trentino Alto Adige (69.6%), much less in Friuli Venezia Giulia (35.5%) where the reputation of SMEs is much lower. Alongside these, we find two guarantee symbols. On the one hand, the police force as the guardian of citizens' safety and coexistence, especially among Trentino and Alto Adige residents (77.3%). This appreciation has increased over the years, also for the valuable help and support they provide on various occasions in peace missions, as well as in emergencies. On the other hand, the figure of the President of the Republic Mattarella remains a stable point of reference within a political scenario characterised by constant fibrillations, particularly in Trentino Alto Adige (60.9%). More than twenty years after the breakdown of the political framework generated by Tangentopoli (bribery scandal), in fact, the party system has still not found a sedimentation, making the political arena a terrain of continuous ruptures and recompositions, of which it is difficult to grasp a precise direction.
Secondly, distinguishing the trust attributed to players in the economy, from those in political and public institutions, it emerges clearly that among the former there is a clear polarisation in favour of SME owners over all the others. Although there are some differences between the three regions, from the Bank of Italy (23.1%) to the Entrepreneurs' Associations (13.4%), from managers of large enterprises (17.4%) to trade unions (10.6%) and insurance companies (7.6%), they all share a high degree of distrust. On the one hand, the largest companies, between relocations and closures, bear the brunt of the consequences of the crisis and the unemployment generated. On the other hand, the credit crunch, coupled with the fraud perpetrated by some institutions, certainly does not help to build a positive image of the banking system. The situation is different for institutional players. A feeling of mistrust prevails on this side too, but it is lower than in the economic sphere. In particular, the EU obtains high approval in Friuli Venezia Giulia (74.1%) and Trentino Alto Adige (60.9%), much more than in Veneto (38.5%). The same goes for the judiciary, which has a higher appreciation in the two autonomous regions (FVG: 55.3%; TAA: 60.9%) than in Veneto (49.8%). More detached is trust in the government (18.3%) and the Church itself (17.1%). At the tail end is Parliament (3.4%), reminding us once again of the detachment towards politics.
Calculating the trust index, defined as the average value of the answers, a paradoxical outcome emerges. The highest trust goes to SME owners, but overall very little trust is placed in economic actors (trust index: 15.5), with Friulians at the lowest point (14.0). There are two institutional actors that are trusted (the police and the President of the Republic), the others obtain lower values, but on average higher than the economic sphere. Thus, the trust index rises to 17.2, with the people of Veneto (17.3) and Trentino and Alto Adige (17.7) higher than average. So, in general, northeasterners are distrustful. But, contrary to what is usually believed, to a greater extent towards the players in the economy, rather than political and public institutions. And for a north-eastern region that has the engine of the economy as one of its strong points, there is a need to regain the fuel of confidence.
Finegil Newspapers, 1 May 2016
Courier of the Alps, 1 May 2016
Daniele Marini
Methodological note
Community Media Research carried out the survey, which took place nationwide from 22 March to 4 April 2016 on a representative sample of the Italian resident population aged 18 and over. The methodological aspects and the survey were taken care of by the company Quantitas. The total number of respondents was 1,997 (out of 13,287 contacts). The data analysis was reproportioned on the basis of gender, territory, age group, occupational status and educational qualification. The margin of error is +/-2.2%. The survey was carried out with a visual survey through the main social networks and with a random sample that could be reached with the CAWI and CATI systems. Full document on www.agcom.it
