2001/04/01 by Kenneth Newton · 9 citations
Health Professions · Social Sciences · #Community Health and Development #Community and Sustainable Development #Social Capital and Networks
paper · doi:10.1177/0192512101222004
openalex publication_date 2001/04/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
The importance of trust has long been emphasised by social and political theorists from Locke and Tocqueville to Putnam and civil society theorists. However, individual survey data casts substantial doubt on this powerful tradition of thought. There is little evidence of (1) an overlap between social and political trust, (2) a syndrome of trust and membership of voluntary organizations, and (3) the existence of trusting/distrusting dispositions among individuals. However, at the aggregate national level there is evidence to support the theory, and the author concludes that the classic theory is correct but needs modification and qualification.