Who gets the blame and who gets the credit? Policing, assistance, and political trust among the Roma in Europe

Abstract

In many European countries the Roma are the largest minority group, and research often highlights their heightened exposure to discrimination, harassment, and even abuse during interactions with the state, and the majority group. In contrast, many governments have assistance programs targeted to the Roma in an effort to boost integration. However, there is strikingly little systematic quantitative research on how these experiences are related to the trust that the Roma place in political institutions. This study addresses this gap by using EU-MIDIS II data from 9 European countries to assess the relationship between political trust and the experiences the Roma have with the police and assistance programs. Our analyses show that different experiences relate to trust in institutions differently: interactions with the police, either by being stopped or assaulted are most strongly associated with lower trust in the police but also reduce trust across institutions. In contrast, local governments may have the most to gain from those who report having received assistance based on their minority membership, with other institutions receiving modest trust benefits. Finally, both overall personal experiences of discrimination and the perceived extent of discrimination in their country are associated with low levels of trust in the institutions.