100 lines
3.1 KiB
YAML
100 lines
3.1 KiB
YAML
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'
|