Within the ADMETHICS research group, a doctoral study is being developed with the aim of understanding how municipal public management transparency influences the perceived trustworthiness among so-called derivative stakeholders—social actors such as researchers, activists, and members of civil society organizations who, although lacking formal power within the structure of the State, are actively engaged in promoting accountability and the public interest.
The study is grounded in both national and international literature that acknowledges the potential of governmental transparency to significantly impact institutional trust. However, as highlighted by Cucciniello, Porumbescu, and Grimmelikhuijsen (2017), empirical findings remain mixed, ranging from positive, neutral, and negative to even ambivalent effects. These variations suggest that contextual variables—such as the type of transparency adopted, citizen profiles, or the pre-existing level of institutional trust—may influence perceptions of government trustworthiness.
The research conducted at ADMETHICS seeks to offer an original contribution by focusing on the municipal reality of Santa Catarina. The choice of this state is justified, among other factors, by the notable presence of derivative stakeholders—particularly the significant number of units of the Social Observatory of Brazil (OSB) and the established research groups on public transparency, such as those at the State University of Santa Catarina (UDESC). This context enriches the empirical field of the study, which analyzes the perceptions of these actors regarding the trustworthiness of municipal public management based on the theoretical dimensions proposed by Mayer, Davis, and Schoorman (1995): ability, benevolence, and integrity.
Following the project’s qualification phase, the research advanced to the analysis of data related to its first two objectives: (a) to understand the current state of municipal public transparency in Santa Catarina; and (b) to investigate how such transparency is perceived by derivative stakeholders, based on the characteristics of trustworthiness. The initial findings were presented at the 12th Brazilian Meeting on Public Administration (SBAP), held in 2025, through two academic papers:
- Public transparency in municipal executive power: an analysis of derivative stakeholders’ perceptions of the Santa Catarina context;
- Transparency and perceived trustworthiness: perceptions of derivative stakeholders based on the characteristics of the ability dimension.
Both papers were accepted by the event’s coordination and presented preliminary reflections on how these actors interpret institutional transparency efforts and how such perceptions relate to the trust attributed to public management.
The study is currently in the phase of developing its theoretical framework and drafting the final chapters of the dissertation, which will address the measurement of perceived trustworthiness, the limitations and potentials of transparency, and the study’s conclusions. Additionally, scientific articles are being prepared for submission to conferences and academic journals, based on the completed portion of the research.
The activity schedule anticipates the completion of the dissertation in the first semester of 2026.
This research trajectory reaffirms ADMETHICS’s commitment to producing scholarship grounded in ethical values and aimed at enhancing Brazilian public administration, highlighting the significance of institutional trust as mediated by transparency.
To learn more about this research, follow upcoming publications on the ADMETHICS blog, where further details about the published articles will be shared. These studies represent the first results of the investigation and show how public transparency and perceived reliability have been analyzed from the perspective of derivative stakeholders in the Santa Catarina context.
References
CUCCINIELLO, M.; PORUMBESCU, G. A.; GRIMMELIKHUIJSEN, S. 25 Years of Transparency Research: Evidence and Future Directions. Public Administration Review, [s. l.], v. 77, n. 1, p. 32–44, 2017. MAYER, R. C.; DAVIS, J. H.; SCHOORMAN, P. An integrative model of organizational trust. Academy of Management Review, [s. l.], v. 20, n. 3, p. 709–734, 1995.
