In this new Sparks project on Digital Transformation Government, Emrys Schoemaker, will be exploring how the digital transformation of public services reshapes the citizen–state relationship and challenges prevailing explanations of trust in government.

The digital transformation of government services is often framed as an unequivocal improvement in state capacity, efficiency, and transparency, with the implicit assumption that these improvements lead to increased public trust in government ( van de Walle & Bouckaert, 2003). However, this perspective overlooks the complex and multifaceted role that trust plays in citizen–state interactions. This research critically examines these assumptions by investigating how the digital transformation of public services, particularly through an increasingly common approach termed ‘digital public infrastructure’, reshapes the citizen–state relationship and challenges prevailing explanations of trust in government. It examines this through the case study of digital identity (the Philippine PhilSys) in the Philippines. 

This research challenges two dominant assumptions in the literature on citizen–state trust that underpin broader policy approaches to digital transformation of the public sector:

1. The "Performance Hypothesis" (Bouckaert & Van de Walle, 2003; Grimmelikhuijsen et al., 2013): This view posits that improving service delivery efficiency through digitalization will inherently increase trust in government. While efficiency is undoubtedly a factor, this assumption neglects the relational dimensions of trust that arise from face-to-face bureaucratic interactions (Lipsky, 1980; Goodsell, 1981; Jilke et al., 2019). This research proposes that digitalization may disintermediate these relational dynamics, disrupting public trust.
2. The "Transparency and Accountability Hypothesis" (Welch et al., 2005; Meijer, 2014): This perspective argues that digital governance enhances transparency and accountability, thereby fostering trust. However, transparency is not always a sufficient condition for trust; instead, it may heighten scrutiny, amplify concerns about data privacy, and reinforce existing distrust (Bannister & Connolly, 2011; Cordella & Paletti, 2019).

By focusing on digital ID and payment systems, this study investigates the transformation of the citizen state relationship, testing whether digital transformation fosters trust through efficiency gains or whether it instead erodes trust by eliminating personal bureaucratic interactions.

Timeline:  February 2026 - January 2027.

Funding organisation: