Political crisis and social trust

The case of Australia

Bibliographic Data

ID6234964
AuthorsMichael Kumove (0000-0002-7000-1784, Department of Sociology and Political Science, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway, corresponding author)
Year2024
Volume59
Issue2
Pages161-178
Publication date2024-04-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAustralian Journal of Political Science (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1036-1146 • E-ISSN: 1363-030X
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/10361146.2024.2352044
OpenAlexW4396975162
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited53

Trust in Australian political institutions has declined markedly since 2007. Trust scholars and social capital theorists argue that institutional trust affects social trust, which implies that declining trust in political institutions should also reduce social trust. However, using data from the Australian Election Study, World Values Survey and HILDA panel study, I find no evidence of any aggregate-level decline in Australian social trust since 2007. While this could be a result of the 'coup era' in Australian politics from 2010 to 2018, a better explanation is that social trust remained high because permanent changes in trust occur primarily among younger people. A long-term decline through generational replacement therefore remains possible. This challenges both social capital theory and institutional theories of social trust, but would explain the experiences of other advanced democracies during episodes of political crisis, including New Zealand, Greece, Finland, Japan, Sweden, Spain and the United States

Political crisis · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Social capital · Social trust · Sociology · Law · Nonprofit Sector and Volunteering · Social Capital and Networks · Social Media and Politics