101 lines
3.1 KiB
YAML
101 lines
3.1 KiB
YAML
abstract: 'The importance of social trust has become widely accepted in the social
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sciences. A number of explanations have been put forward for the stark
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variation in social trust among countries. Among these, participation in
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voluntary associations received most attention. Yet there is scant
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evidence that participation can lead to trust. In this article, the
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authors examine a variable that has not gotten the attention it deserves
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in the discussion about the sources of generalized trust, namely,
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equality. They conceptualize equality along two dimensions: economic
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equality and equality of opportunity. The omission of both these
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dimensions of equality in the social capital literature is peculiar for
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several reasons. First, it is obvious that the countries that score
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highest on social trust also rank highest on economic equality, namely,
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the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, and Canada. Second, these
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countries have put a lot of effort in creating equality of opportunity,
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not least in regard to their policies for public education, health care,
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labor market opportunities, and (more recently) gender equality The
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argument for increasing social trust by reducing inequality has largely
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been ignored in the policy debates about social trust. Social capital
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research has to a large extent been used by several governments and
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policy organizations to send a message to people that the bad things in
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their society are caused by too little volunteering. The policy
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implications that follow from the authors'' research is that the low
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levels of trust and social capital that plague many countries are caused
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by too little government action to reduce inequality. However, many
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countries with low levels of social trust and social capital may be
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stuck in what is known as a social trap. The logic of such a situation
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is the following. Social trust will not increase because massive social
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inequality, prevails, but the public policies that could remedy this
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situation cannot be established precisely because there is a genuine
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lack of trust. This lack of trust concerns both ``other people{''''} and
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the government institutions that are needed to implement universal
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policies.'
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affiliation: 'Rothstein, B (Corresponding Author), Univ Gothenburg, Qual Govt Inst,
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Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Univ Gothenburg, Qual Govt Inst, Gothenburg, Sweden.
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Univ Maryland, College Pk, MD 20742 USA.'
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author: Rothstein, Bo and Uslaner, Eric M.
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author-email: 'bo.rothstein@pol.qu.se
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euslaner@gypt.umd.edu'
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author_list:
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- family: Rothstein
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given: Bo
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- family: Uslaner
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given: Eric M.
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da: '2023-09-28'
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doi: 10.1353/wp.2006.0022
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eissn: 1086-3338
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files: []
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issn: 0043-8871
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journal: WORLD POLITICS
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language: English
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month: OCT
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number: '1'
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number-of-cited-references: '85'
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pages: 41+
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papis_id: cb261eab9958b06a88c1d256e6e8bda7
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ref: Rothstein2005allall
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times-cited: '727'
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title: All for all - Equality, corruption, and social trust
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type: Article
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unique-id: WOS:000238854300003
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usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
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usage-count-since-2013: '264'
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volume: '58'
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web-of-science-categories: International Relations; Political Science
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year: '2005'
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