Mistrust: Why Losing Faith in Institutions Provides the Tools to Transform Them

Books like The New Localism by Bruce Katz and Jeremy Nowak offer examples of how cities are creating economic turnarounds by building partnerships between universities, local organizations, industries, and governments in a way that’s deeply optimistic and promising,

were expressing frustration with a system of democratic representation that they felt was not furthering their interests.

Rosanvallon offers three paths toward legitimacy, both for democratic and for counter-democratic institutions. First, an institution is legitimate if it enjoys majority support. This reads as an extension of electoral democracy: if the majority of people voted for a candidate, she should hold office; if a similar majority believe in a free and inde

David Brooks has suggested that Trump is the wrong answer to the right question. That question, Brooks believes, is how Americans should deal with upheavals and social shifts like globalization.69 More broadly, the question is how people should react when faced with institutions that appear to be both ill-equipped to cope with contemporary realitie

Citizens today, Schudson speculates, understand that they can’t master every issue that we ask them to opine on. Instead, they monitor a set of issues they know and care about and take action when they think they can make a difference.

Another explanation for voter enthusiasm for local politics is efficacy.

The wallet experiment illustrates several key dimensions of trust. We trust particular individuals, groups, and institutions: we might trust our neighbors but not strangers or the police. Trust is situational: I might trust you to return my wallet, but I might not trust you to care for my child. Trust inherently involves risk: if I’m guaranteed to

Trump was the wrong answer to the right question.

The mistrust many feel for democratic institutions can be seen as greater “social attentiveness,” fuel for engagement in efforts to hold elected and bureaucratic powers responsible. This “ethos of democratic oversight”