2. The Trust in Science Revisited: Social-Epistemic Challenges in Democratic and Digital Societies

Democratic institutions and trust are interdependent. Well-ordered democratic institutions can create and nurture confidence, but without trust, even well-ordered democratic institutions can hardly function. In this paper, I discuss an important part of the complex fabric of overall trust in a democracy: trust in science. Science and scientific experts have enjoyed exceptional trust during the COVID-19 crisis in many democratic countries. It is not yet clear whether this development is permanent and will help strengthen this crucial institution after the end of the pandemic. Therefore, some general reflections on the conditions for sustainable trust in science in a knowledge-based and democratic society seem to be needed. Four main factors are discussed: (a) the social establishment of reliable criteria to certify scientific expertise; (b) the use of these criteria in heuristic rules that empower laymen in identifying trustworthy experts; (c) a stable ‘veritistic equilibrium’ in trust-networks that ensures a ‘truth-conserving’ distribution of knowledge; (d) the resilience of trustworthy science in the digital world, where it is endangered most. The results of this analysis can, in many aspects, be applied to general questions regarding the fragile interdependency between institutional trustworthiness and the trust of citizens in democratic societies.