Trust in Institutions

Abstract

Trust in institutions refers to very different aspects. Due to belief in the validity of certain values, we trust that the social action of people we do not know is oriented toward these values. Based on the experience that a certain institutional order has functioned, we trust that individuals and organizations are sufficiently structured and controlled by institutionalized rules, even in unpredictable situations. It is trust in justice, in an institutional order with explicit responsibilities, norms, and authorities controlling the action of the organs of jurisdiction. Trust may develop out of the experience that certain individuals and organizations practice their prior behavior again and again. The fulfillment of expectations of a certain behavior results in a relationship of trust even if the institutional rules and procedures and the guiding ideas on which they are based are not explicitly known. In the case of trust in institutions, our trust is not related to the behavior of individuals and their motives and disposition. Trust in a person’s disposition is replaced by trust in an institution’s guiding idea. Trust in a person’s motives is replaced by trust in an institution’s code of procedure. Direct observation and control of a person’s social action are replaced by observations of achievements ascribed to an institution and of control mechanisms monitoring the institution. It is not the misbehavior of institutions’ representatives, but rather the estimated number of unreported cases, adaptation to this number, and erosion of the willingness to sanction that compromise trust in institutions.

Translated from German with permission from Springer. Original Publication: Lepsius MR (2013) Vertrauen in Institutionen. In: Lepsius MR, Institutionalisierung politischen Handelns. Wiesbaden, Springer VS, pp. 55–64. Translated and edited by Claus Wendt, University of Siegen/Germany, wendt@soziologie.uni-siegen.de.