Do crises erode trust in government? To answer this question, we leverage the quasi-experimental setting of the sharply increased military threat to the neutral county of Switzerland during the two world wars as an exogenous shock. In doing so, we exploit a unique feature of Swiss politics: government issuance of pre-referenda voting recommendations. We use constitu ent adherence to government recommendations as a behaviour al proxy for trus t in government, measured in real time prior to, duri ng, and after the crisis. Our difference-in- differences estimates provide strong evidence that constituents are significantly less likely to follow governmental voting recommendations during wartime.

中文翻译：

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危机时期对政府的信任：两次世界大战期间的准实验✰

危机会削弱对政府的信任吗？为了回答这个问题，我们利用两次世界大战期间对瑞士中立国的军事威胁急剧增加的准实验环境作为外生冲击。在此过程中，我们利用了瑞士政治的一个独特特征：政府发布公投前投票建议。我们使用选民对政府建议的遵守情况作为对政府信任的行为代理，在危机之前、期间和之后进行实时衡量。我们的差异估计提供了强有力的证据，表明选民在战时不太可能遵循政府投票建议。