96% of Jordanians Trust the Armed Forces, While 49% Trust the Government

Al-Taj News – The Jordan Strategy Forum issued a paper as part of its “In Brief” series, titled “Levels of Trust in Public Institutions in Jordan and OECD Countries,” highlighting levels of trust in public institutions in Jordan compared with countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

According to the findings, the forum indicated that security and judicial institutions associated with security and the rule of law in Jordan enjoy the highest levels of trust among citizens, with the Armed Forces trusted by 96% of citizens, while the level of trust in the courts stands at 68%. These figures exceed the average levels of trust recorded in OECD countries, which stand at 66% for the armed forces and 54% for the courts.

In a related context, the forum noted that 49% of Jordanians trust the government, compared with 39% in the previous round (2023). This percentage exceeds the OECD average of 40%, noting that the level of trust in the government is equal to the level of trust in Finland’s government at 49%, and exceeds the levels of trust in Germany at 35%, the United Kingdom at 33%, Greece at 24%, and France at 22%. It is generally observed that levels of trust in governments are low overall across different countries of the world.

In contrast, the forum explained that the level of trust in the Jordanian Parliament, which was the lowest among state institutions (27%), is similar to levels of trust in the parliaments of OECD countries in general, and is also the lowest among the institutions of those countries, noting that the average level of trust in their parliaments stood at 37%.

The forum noted in its paper that 59% of citizens consider economic conditions and the lack of job opportunities to be the main priority in Jordan, while curbing inflation was the main priority in most OECD countries, with an average of 51.9%.

The forum noted that maintaining high levels of trust in national institutions in Jordan requires these institutions to focus on strengthening reliability, responsiveness, openness, fairness, and integrity, which are the five pillars identified by the OECD for building trust between citizens and the institutions of their countries.