Investigating the Dynamics of Local Political Trust during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China: An Analysis Using the CGSS2021 Dataset

In response to the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020, the Chinese government implemented a stringent "Zero-COVID Policy." Although these measures initially appeared to rapidly control the virus's spread, two years later, they caused significant restrictions on residents' personal freedoms, leading to widespread controversy and strong distrust of local governments among many residents. In the past, scholars have used social capital and political culture to study political trust. This paper uses data collected from the CGSS2021 database during the pandemic to demonstrate that social capital and political culture significantly influenced Chinese residents' political trust in local governments during the pandemic. It further proposes the theoretical basis behind this influence mechanism.