Trust, social capital, civil society, and democracy

The importance of trust has long been emphasised by social and political th eorists from Locke and Tocqueville to Putnam and civil society theorists. H owever, individual survey data casts substantial doubt on this powerful tra dition of thought. There is little evidence of (1) an overlap between socia l and political trust, (2) a syndrome of trust and membership of voluntary organizations, and (3) the existence of trusting/distrusting dispositions a mong individuals. However, at the aggregate national level there is evidenc e to support the theory, and the author concludes that the classic theory i s correct but needs modification and qualification.