Trust in the Knowledge Society

Eric M. Uslaner (1)

1.   Why trust is important: Trust as a moral value connects us with people who are different from ourselves.  We learn moralistic trust at an early age, not from our interactions with people in civic associations or in social life.  When we join civic associations or have informal social ties, we interact with people very much like ourselves.  This may increase particularized trust (trust in people like ourselves), but not in strangers.  Generalized trust (in strangers) leads people to be more tolerant.
 
2.   Economically important aspects of trust: People who trust strangers are more willing to take the risks of getting involved with people of different backgrounds.  They are more likely to volunteer their time and to give to charity.  They are more open to immigration and especially to trade.  Countries with higher levels of trust have more open markets, more Internet users, a greater reliance on trade, and greater economic growth.  Their governments function better and are less likely to be corrupt.  Trust has many positive consequences-and we cannot reduce the impact of trust to either democratic regimes, to postmaterialist values, or to an active citizenry.
 
3.   Challenges to conventional wisdom: Much current research links economic growth to democratization, property rights, and widespread civic participation (the focus of most social capital research).  Civic engagement, however, is not related to economic growth or globalization.  And there is but weak evidence that democratization leads to greater economic growth.  Trust is the key factor, being more important than constitutional changes or an active citizenry or even postmateralist values.  None of these factors substitutes for trust.
 
4.   Policy measures to influence social capital?  The most important determinant of trust over time in the United States and across nations without a legacy of Communism is the level of economic equality.  Steps to increase equality are important to a policy that aims to increase generalized trust.  Open markets may also increase trust.  So is education and having young people make friends with children of different backgrounds.
(1)   Professor of Government and Politics, University of Maryland-College Park, College Park, MD 20742 USA, Ph.D. in Political Science, author of The Moral Foundations of Trust (Cambridge University Press) and co-editor of Social Capital and Participation in Everyday Life, Social Capital and the Democratic Transition, and Institutions and Social Order.  Research includes social capital, legislative politics, and the impact of economic inequality on civic life.