Best questions for civil servant survey about public trust in government

Here are some of the best questions for a civil servant survey about public trust in government, plus practical tips for building a survey that gets real insight. If you want to generate a tailored survey in seconds, you can use Specific to create a full questionnaire with follow-up logic instantly.

Best open-ended questions for civil servant surveys about public trust in government

Open-ended questions invite honest, complex answers and help uncover the “why” behind attitudes—a must in discussions about public trust. They work best when you want respondents to share experiences or opinions, or when you don’t want to presuppose answers. This style reveals nuances that multiple choice simply can’t—and given that only 39% of people across OECD countries report high or moderately high trust in their national government, while 44% report low or no trust, it’s vital to dig for underlying reasons and new perspectives. [1]

1. What does “public trust in government” mean to you personally?

2. Can you share an example where you felt public trust in government was either strengthened or weakened?

3. What specific actions could the government take to earn (or regain) public trust?

4. In your experience, what are the biggest drivers of distrust in government?

5. How do you think transparency in government can be improved?

6. What barriers, if any, do you see preventing citizens from trusting government institutions?

7. What role do civil servants like you play in influencing public trust?

8. Describe how public feedback is collected and used in your department.

9. How has your perception of public trust changed in recent years? Why?

10. What resources or support would help you better foster trust with the citizens you serve?

Best single-select multiple-choice questions for civil servant surveys about public trust in government

Single-select multiple-choice questions are perfect when you need quantifiable, structured data or want to prime the respondent for further reflection—they provide easy entry points if the topic is sensitive or complex. Starting with clear options can make it less overwhelming, especially on challenging topics like government trust. This approach is also a fast way to identify common bottlenecks or points of concern and start the feedback conversation.

Question: How would you rate the current level of public trust in your government department?

• Very high

• Moderately high

• Moderate

• Low

• Very low

Question: Which factor do you believe most influences the public’s trust in government?

• Transparency and openness

• Quality of public services

• Responsiveness to citizen concerns

• Ethical standards and accountability

• Other

Question: Over the past year, how has public trust in government changed in your view?

• Increased significantly

• Increased somewhat

• No change

• Decreased somewhat

• Decreased significantly

When to followup with "why?" Asking a “why?” follow-up after a single-select answer is invaluable when you want to understand motivations and context. For example, if someone marks “Very low” for trust, following up with “Can you share why you feel this way?” gives you actionable, qualitative data and helps move beyond numbers into actionable insights.

When and why to add the "Other" choice? Always add “Other” when your choices may not cover all possible perspectives. When people select “Other,” prompt them for details—sometimes, the most surprising and critical feedback comes from open “other” responses. These answers can reveal issues or themes you haven’t anticipated, which is crucial in rapidly changing contexts like public service.

Should you use NPS-style questions in civil servant surveys about public trust in government?

NPS (Net Promoter Score) asks, “How likely are you to recommend [entity] to a friend or colleague?” In civil servant surveys, NPS works by rephrasing: “How likely are you, as a civil servant, to recommend working with this government department to others?” This single metric gives you a pulse on sentiment and lets you track changes over time, much like standard NPS tracking for customer satisfaction. Given that fewer than one-third of young Americans today trust the U.S. government—a record low among advanced economies [2][3]—measuring the likelihood to recommend adds a valuable benchmark for institutional reputation and internal morale. You can easily experiment with this format using Specific's NPS survey builder.

The power of follow-up questions

Follow-up questions are where a conversational survey truly shines compared to static forms. Specific’s AI automatically generates context-aware, targeted follow-ups in real time, acting like an expert interviewer—a feature that saves hours of email back-and-forth and prevents vague or incomplete data. This is especially important for nuanced topics like public trust. Check out how automated followup questions in surveys work for deeper context.

• Civil servant: “Trust seems low in my area.”

• AI follow-up: “Can you describe specific events or actions that you think caused trust to decline?”

How many followups to ask? In most surveys, 2–3 thoughtful followups are optimal. This lets you clarify and dig deeper without exhausting respondents. With Specific, you can set the maximum number of followups or allow the AI to move on when key info is captured.

This makes it a conversational survey: By asking responsive followups, your survey feels more like a natural conversation. This boosts completion rates and delivers richer detail, making the process seamless for everyone.

AI-powered analysis, open-ended response analysis: AI makes analyzing all that free text simple—see how easy it is with AI survey response analysis, even with large volumes and unstructured feedback.

This approach to followups is still new—generate a sample survey and experience just how much detail you can extract compared to classic forms.

How to write the best prompts for ChatGPT (or AI) to come up with great civil servant survey questions about public trust in government

If you want to create your own survey using AI—like with ChatGPT, Bing AI, or the Specific AI survey generator—your prompt matters. Context is everything. Here’s a basic prompt to start:

Suggest 10 open-ended questions for civil servant survey about public trust in government.

The more detail you provide about your goals, your department, your audience, or recent relevant events, the stronger the proposed questions will be. For example:

I’m preparing a survey for civil servants in a national agency during a period of governmental transition. Our aim is to understand factors affecting public trust, especially among younger demographics, and gather ideas for improvement. Suggest 10 open-ended questions.

Let the AI generate question lists, then refine further:

Look at the questions and categorize them. Output categories with the questions under them.

Finally, pick the categories that resonate most with you and drill down:

Generate 10 questions for the category “Transparency and communication.”

What is a conversational survey?

Conversational surveys feel like messaging: the AI “interviewer” responds in real time, asking clarifying questions, tailoring language to the respondent, and making followup seamless. This is fundamentally different from old-school form-based surveys, where even well-designed open questions can turn into a mountain of vague, hard-to-analyze text. Creating a conversational AI survey makes the process feel natural on mobile and desktop, increases response quality, and delivers much more actionable insight.

Here’s a quick look at how traditional and AI surveys compare:

Why use AI for civil servant surveys? With AI, you can instantly create surveys tailored to your sector and needs, benefit from dynamic followups, and analyze all responses conversationally—no manual sifting, no training needed. The AI survey example on Specific demonstrates how modern feedback is conversational, engaging, and effective for respondents and creators alike.

For a step-by-step walkthrough, see our guide to creating a survey about public trust in government or try editing questions instantly with our AI survey editor.

See this public trust in government survey example now

Shape your own civil servant feedback survey and explore how conversational surveys can unlock honest, actionable insights—and experience the difference of a truly interactive, AI-powered approach today.