Political Trust and the Crisis of Democracy

This paper addresses a significant gap in the literature: while much attention has been devoted to the determinants of political trust, its consequences—particularly its potential role in the current crisis of democracy—remain underexplored. Our objective is to bridge this gap by examining how variations in political trust influence the quality and stability of democratic regimes. We identify three theoretical perspectives for testing: the "classic" approach, emphasizing the necessity of high political trust for democratic health; the "critical citizens" approach, which posits the opposite effect; and the "bifurcated-trust" approach, which takes a middle ground, differentiating trust in political versus non-political institutions. To test these hypotheses, we assembled an original dataset spanning 25 European countries from 1997 to 2023, incorporating data from sources such as the Truedem Project, V-Dem, and the World Bank. Employing descriptive and regression analyses, we reveal critical insights into how trust—or its absence—can either bolster or erode democratic quality, contributing to a nuanced understanding of the current democratic crisis.