Confidence in the political and judicial systems and in the police

Relevance/Results

This indicator is recommended by the EU and serves to gauge the mood of the various population groups. The more confidence the different groups have in political institutions, the better their integration.

Most of the resident population aged 16 and over have great confidence in the police (67%). Just over half of the population (54%) also have great confidence in the judicial system. The rate of people with great confidence in the political system is lower (46%).

Regardless of the institution, the first generation consistently shows the highest confidence (55%, 63% and 72%). The second or subsequent generations have a lower confidence in the police than the population with no migration background (60% vs. 65%). Regarding the great confidence in the political and judicial systems, both population groups have equivalent rates.

Trends over time

Overall, between 2014 and 2018, a significant increase can be observed in confidence in the political and judicial systems and in the police in the three population groups, with the exception of the second or subsequent generations for the great confidence in the judicial system where the increase is not significant. The largest increase can be observed in the first generation’s great confidence in the police (+10.9 percentage points).

Major region

Regardless of major region or the type of institution (political, judicial or the police) considered, the population with a migration background has – in most cases – greater confidence than the population with no migration background. The greatest relative differences can be seen in Espace Mittelland and Northwest Switzerland with regard to confidence in the political system.

Definitions
Methodologies

This indicator measures the confidence that the population has in different Swiss institutions. The following institutions are considered:
1. The political system in Switzerland;
2. The judicial system in Switzerland (i.e. Institutions such as the courts, the efficiency of their procedures and the impartiality of their decisions, etc.);
3. The police in Switzerland.

To assess the level of confidence in these institutions, the following question is asked in the SILC questionnaire: “What level of trust do you have in each of the following institutions, on a scale of 0 "no trust" and 10 "complete and full trust? “. The results produced for this indicator represent the percentage of people aged 16 and over who responded with the codes 8 to 10.

Following changes to the survey framework and improvements in the weighting model, results from 2014 on can no longer be directly compared with those from previous years (series break).

You can access the indicators in one of the following ways

All indicators

Some 68 indicators describe the current situation and changes in the integration of the population with a migration background and/or of foreign nationals in Switzerland in eleven areas of life in our society.

Key indicators

34 key indicators provide an overview of the progress made on the journey towards integration and the state of integration of the population with a migration background. If this information is lacking, the population is shown by nationality, and where this variable is available, the country of birth.