Abstract:

The improvement of public trust in public security departments plays a crucial role in enhancing the effectiveness of law enforcement and promoting urban social governance. Based on data from the 2021 China Social Situation Comprehensive Survey (CSS), this paper uses an OLS model to explore the relationship between individuals' perceived socioeconomic status and their trust in public security departments from the perspective of population and social mobility. Methods such as propensity score matching (PSM) and instrumental variable approaches were applied for robustness checks. A Bootstrap mediation analysis was conducted to examine the mediating role of online browsing of political information between perceived socioeconomic status and trust in public security departments. The results show that perceived socioeconomic status positively influences trust in public security departments. This relationship is heterogeneous across different groups of population mobility and social mobility. It is strongest among long-term mobile populations, followed by non-mobile populations. It is also stronger among groups that have experienced upward social mobility, compared to those who have not experienced social mobility. The frequency of browsing political information online has a negative mediating effect between perceived socioeconomic status and trust in public security departments, with this effect being significant among non-mobile populations and groups that have not experienced social mobility. The findings of this study provide evidence-based practical insights for public security departments on how to more effectively participate in urban social governance.

Key words: mobility, trust, socioeconomic status, instrumental variables, population governance