abstract: 'The importance of social trust has become widely accepted in the social

  sciences. A number of explanations have been put forward for the stark

  variation in social trust among countries. Among these, participation in

  voluntary associations received most attention. Yet there is scant

  evidence that participation can lead to trust. In this article, the

  authors examine a variable that has not gotten the attention it deserves

  in the discussion about the sources of generalized trust, namely,

  equality. They conceptualize equality along two dimensions: economic

  equality and equality of opportunity. The omission of both these

  dimensions of equality in the social capital literature is peculiar for

  several reasons. First, it is obvious that the countries that score

  highest on social trust also rank highest on economic equality, namely,

  the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, and Canada. Second, these

  countries have put a lot of effort in creating equality of opportunity,

  not least in regard to their policies for public education, health care,

  labor market opportunities, and (more recently) gender equality The

  argument for increasing social trust by reducing inequality has largely

  been ignored in the policy debates about social trust. Social capital

  research has to a large extent been used by several governments and

  policy organizations to send a message to people that the bad things in

  their society are caused by too little volunteering. The policy

  implications that follow from the authors'' research is that the low

  levels of trust and social capital that plague many countries are caused

  by too little government action to reduce inequality. However, many

  countries with low levels of social trust and social capital may be

  stuck in what is known as a social trap. The logic of such a situation

  is the following. Social trust will not increase because massive social

  inequality, prevails, but the public policies that could remedy this

  situation cannot be established precisely because there is a genuine

  lack of trust. This lack of trust concerns both ``other people{''''} and

  the government institutions that are needed to implement universal

  policies.'
affiliation: 'Rothstein, B (Corresponding Author), Univ Gothenburg, Qual Govt Inst,
  Gothenburg, Sweden.

  Univ Gothenburg, Qual Govt Inst, Gothenburg, Sweden.

  Univ Maryland, College Pk, MD 20742 USA.'
author: Rothstein, Bo and Uslaner, Eric M.
author-email: 'bo.rothstein@pol.qu.se

  euslaner@gypt.umd.edu'
author_list:
- family: Rothstein
  given: Bo
- family: Uslaner
  given: Eric M.
da: '2023-09-28'
doi: 10.1353/wp.2006.0022
eissn: 1086-3338
files: []
issn: 0043-8871
journal: WORLD POLITICS
language: English
month: OCT
number: '1'
number-of-cited-references: '85'
pages: 41+
papis_id: cb261eab9958b06a88c1d256e6e8bda7
ref: Rothstein2005allall
times-cited: '727'
title: All for all - Equality, corruption, and social trust
type: article
unique-id: WOS:000238854300003
usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
usage-count-since-2013: '264'
volume: '58'
web-of-science-categories: International Relations; Political Science
year: '2005'