And to add: which way does the causality point?
The research and example I use suggest high levels of trust in institutions lead to better outcomes. That probably leads to more trust! It can be a positive feedback loop.
Or it can go the other way, and in America, it has.
The research and example I use suggest high levels of trust in institutions lead to better outcomes. That probably leads to more trust! It can be a positive feedback loop.
Or it can go the other way, and in America, it has.
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1490414746025308161
But I'm also not convinced the relationship between trust and institutions is solely or mainly mediated by institutional quality or performance.
The "Revolt of the Public" argument is partially that digital communication does a lot to reveal elite failures that always existed, but did less to erode trust back when elites had more control over information flows. That seems right to me.
You can't read a history book and think that institutions were somehow spotless in the past.
But as transparency rises, and media focuses coverage on conflict and scandal, and social media on outrage and engagement, the same level of failure will lead to lots more mistrust.
But as transparency rises, and media focuses coverage on conflict and scandal, and social media on outrage and engagement, the same level of failure will lead to lots more mistrust.
If anything, I think there's a stronger case to be made that the level of trust determines institutional performance than that the level of institutional performance determines the level of trust.
I'd be very curious to know if there are examples of non-authoritarian societies that have dramatically and enduringly increased trust in institutions in recent decades.
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