Trust in Crisis?
How Trust, Mistrust and Distrust Shape Democratic Governance
Gerry Stoker author Will Jennings author Daniel Devine author Viktor Valgarðsson author Jennifer Gaskell author
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Cambridge University Press
Publishing:17th Dec '26
£28.00
This title is due to be published on 17th December, and will be despatched as soon as possible.
A definitive account of political trust: why it's declining, who trusts, how judgements form, and how trust can be restored.
Trust in Crisis? examines claims of a global crisis of democracy, patterns of citizen trust in institutions, and why trust matters for governance. The authors explore responses to challenges – including climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic – and consider how crises of trust may be addressed.As the future of liberal democracy hangs in the balance, citizens' lack of trust in political systems is increasingly blamed for democratic decline. Trust in Crisis? questions this claim, asking whether there is truly a global crisis of political trust and how important trust is when societies face disruption. Drawing on extensive cross-national quantitative and qualitative evidence, the authors examine how citizens form trust judgements and whether a lack of trust is synonymous with 'distrust', or can reflect a more constructive 'mistrust'. They reveal a long-term global decline in political trust, show how trust varies across groups of citizens and responds to shocks, and demonstrate that people in different cultural contexts evaluate trustworthiness in similar ways. Trust in Crisis? also explains why trust matters – especially during a global pandemic – and explores how political trust might be rebuilt when it matters most.
'Trust in Crisis' is an outstanding and timely book. Combining conceptual clarity, methodological rigor, and remarkable empirical scope, the authors provide a compelling account of how trust, mistrust, and distrust shape democratic politics in an era of profound uncertainty. A major scholarly achievement, it will become essential reading for anyone seeking to understand what makes political institutions worthy of trust in an age of recurring crises.' Eri Bertsou, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of St. Gallen
'Trust is truly foundational for politics, and this book offers the most comprehensive, nuanced, and insightful insights into this political foundation of trust, to date. Showing how trust is lost, and when it is gained, it explodes some of the simple assumptions about trust using a huge amount of evidence and years of focused, impressive work. To that end, 'Trust in Crisis' is quite hopeful, and it is an essential read for students, scholars and for those who need to earn and retain trust within the political world.' Jane Green, Professor, Nuffield College, University of Oxford
'This book represents the most ambitious and complete treatment of trust in more than a half century. It is rich in both description and explanation. Its mixed-method approach expands the range of questions it addresses. And its focus on both ordinary citizens and those who govern them is entirely unique.' Marc Hetherington, Raymond Dawson Distinguished Bicentennial Professor of Political Science, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
'Systematic, hopeful, and most importantly thought-provoking, 'Trust in Crisis' pushes political trust research into a new era. It answers new and longstanding questions with innovative methods and globe-spanning data. It is an engaging must-read for all who are interested in political trust, policy makers and scholars alike.' Tom van der Meer, Professor Political Science, University of Amsterdam
ISBN: 9781009389211
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
358 pages