Acting out or playing along: A typology of citizens' low trust responses to public organizations

Working under the assumption that societal pockets of low trust in government are likely to proliferate, this introduction to the special issue on "governance in low-trust settings" integrates insights from the Global South and Global North to analyze how citizens respond to formal rules and service arrangements of public organizations they perceive as untrustworthy. We develop a typology of low trust responses-submission, avoidance, gaming, and resistance-as a counterpart to the well-established exit-voice-loyalty-neglect framework. We argue that these responses follow from institutional incentives and most likely emerge where people feel the system is not fair or feel like their back is against the wall, and they have the resources to game or resist the system. This article seeks to advance theorizing on governance in low-trust contexts and enable a better understanding of citizen responses that are inconsistent with the governance mechanisms and service provision in high trust contexts.