Determinants of Policy Support in India: The Role of Trust and Party Identification

Abstract Book of the 10th International Conference on New Trends in Social Sciences

Year: 2026

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Determinants of Policy Support in India: The Role of Trust and Party Identification

Mihira Gujral

ABSTRACT:

Public opinion and attitude toward certain government policies plays a major role in shaping governance, especially in as politically diverse a nation as India. In recent years, debates have sparked on multiple socio-cultural and economic policies that the government has passed. Therefore, it is crucial to analyse and explore what factors influence citizens to support certain government policies. This study used a survey to gather quantitative data from 64 respondents and analysed the level of trust in the current government, party affiliation and participants’ attitudes toward the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC), Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), public versus private investment, the privatisation of services, and censorship laws. The study found that increased trust in the government resulted in higher support for all the government policies listed. Additionally, the study found a significant difference in support for identity based policies between the people affiliated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and people affiliated with other political parties. These findings suggest that trust in the government and political party, and party affiliation play a major role in determining how an individual perceives a government policy.

Keywords: Partisanship, Trust, Public Policy Attitudes, Policy Perception, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Uniform Civil Code (UCC)