Institutional Trust In The Context Of Post-communist Democratic Consolidation

Abstract

Trust in institutions represents an indispensable ingredient for their legitimacy. The major post-communist social reshaping process is inextricably related with countries’ institutional modernization capacity. Using data from Romania, Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia, this article approaches two different levels of this issue. The first relates to the societal and institutional legacies that influence the contemporary sources of institutional distrust. Informality, corruption and lack of efficiency not only that self-reinforce but they also create behavioral expectations from the mass-public. The second discussion approaches the individual level, studying the influence of social capital, different types of trust, personal experience and subjective wellbeing on individuals’ predisposition to trust and act accordingly toward institutions. While experience and people’s socio-economical situation has a minimal influence, subjective factors explain the bulk of variation.