政治信任是公民對於政府（包括政客和官僚）行為正確、恰當並符合公益的信心。公民對於政府績效的評價反映在四個方面：對於政府支出的滿意度；支持政府擴大執法和維護秩序的權力；對於政府誠信或腐敗的看法；公民對於自身民主權利的感受。長期的政治信任建立在績效的基礎上，即政治行為體和政治機構還有民主政體本身的績效。在中國，鄉村基層政府面臨比城市政府更嚴重的信任危機。在政治信任中，公民最信任政府，其次是媒體，最不信任官員。高收入階層相對於低收入階層，更信任政治。黨員相對於群眾、老年人相對於年輕人，更信任政治。多數公民肯定政府的總體績效，其原因主要在於經濟發展和收入狀況的改善，而不是公共服務的改進，後者仍是公眾抱怨和輿論詬病的「老大難」問題。政治信任度愈高的公民，對政府績效的評價愈高，對公共服務和經濟狀況的評價也愈高。

Trust in government is the level of confidence citizens has in their government (both politicians and public officials) in terms of “doing the right thing” as well as acting appropriately and honestly on behalf of the public. Public perceptions of government performance are inferred from four measures: satisfaction with the spending of public money; citizen support for giving the government more power to enforce law and order; citizen perceptions of credibility or corruption of the government; and people’s sense of impotence in the exercise of their democratic rights. Long-term political trust is based on the performance of political actors and institutions as well as that of the democratic regime itself. In China, urban residents trust the government more than peasants. Citizens trust the government more than the mass media, and usually distrust public officials. Rich people, Party members and the elderly trust politics more than the others. Most citizens appreciate the government’s efforts in developing the economy and raising people’s incomes. Complaints focus on the low quality of public services. Citizens who trust politics tend to have a positive evaluation of government performance, as well as public services and economic conditions.