Replication Data for: Technocrats instead of political parties? Synthetic control approach to the effect of technocratic government on the confidence in political institutions

As democratic governments face a dilemma between the responsibility to govern and the representation of the public will, the appointment of technocrats has emerged as a popular countermeasure. This study explores how individuals respond to the formation and governance of technocratic governments. While extant studies point out that distrust in political parties results in an expanding technocratic appointment, few studies have investigated whether individuals trust technocrats as an alternative. To address this gap, we utilised a synthetic control method to examine the impact of the Monti government—a purely technocratic government—on public trust in democratic institutions in Italy. The results demonstrate that the Monti government diminished public trust in the government, yet it had no discernible effect on public trust in the parliament. This implies that the public tends to distrust a purely technocratic government, while the parliament can avoid blame for delegating authority to the technocratic government.