Social Traps And Social Trust

A 'social trap' is a situation where individuals, groups or organisations are unable to cooperate owing to mutual distrust and lack of social capital, even where cooperation would benefit all. Examples include civil strife, pervasive corruption, ethnic discrimination, depletion of natural resources and misuse of social insurance systems. Much has been written attempting to explain the problem, but rather less material is available on how to escape it. In this book, Bo Rothstein explores how social capital and social trust are generated and what governments can do about it. He argues that it is the existence of universal and impartial political institutions together with public policies which enhance social and economic equality that creates social capital. By introducing the theory of collective memory into the discussion, Rothstein makes an empirical and theoretical claim for how universal institutions can be established.

The articles in this special issue of the New England Journal of Public Policy are unusual in two respects. First, they reflect the practical wisdom of seasoned actors, rather than the theoretical knowledge of academicians. The typically unexamined assumption of the academy is that good practice in the world is simply the application of sound theory from the academy. It does not take long in the public arena, however, to discover that leaders there are not applying theory from the academy to the decisions they face. Rather, they base their interventions on what they have learned about people, organizations, conflict, race, and politics in the rough and tumble of living in the world. Their working understandings may be valuably leavened by theory, but are not guided primarily by it. Second, the authors were not separate individuals working on isolated issues, like children engaged in parallel play, but rather partners in a fluid, informal, collaborative social action network operating in an environment of constantly shifting challenges and possibilities for change. The authors are not a collection of “Is”; they are a “we.” They decided pragmatically to connect their power—their political and financial and social capital—at critical moments to accomplish shared goals. The network grew more powerful in the process, becoming more than the sum of its organizational parts. This volume is ours, as was the collective action out of which it emerged. Like a choir’s songs, its articles give voice to a group’s experiences. Each is a part of a larger whole. Whenever I speak about how Hurricane Katrina changed New Orleans, an audience member invariably asks: “Would the changes you described have occurred without a hurricane?” The simple answer is “no,” but a fuller response is required to do justice to the situation: Nature can create temporary vacuums but it cannot fill them. The coalition-led public meetings, action campaigns, election fights, and legislative lobbying recounted here, and the transformations they caused, might not have happened in the wake of the great storm. But they did. In these pages you will meet some of those whose practical wisdom, courage and integrity drove those changes.

What is Trust Social Science Trust is the belief that another person will do what is expected. It brings with it a willingness for one party to become vulnerable to another party, on the presumption that the trustee will act in ways that benefit the trustor. In addition, the trustor does not have control over the actions of the trustee. Scholars distinguish between generalized trust, which is the extension of trust to a relatively large circle of unfamiliar others, and particularized trust, which is contingent on a specific situation or a specific relationship. How you will benefit (I) Insights, and validations about the following topics: Chapter 1: Trust (social science) Chapter 2: Social psychology Chapter 3: Interpersonal relationship Chapter 4: Mood (psychology) Chapter 5: Proxemics Chapter 6: Popularity Chapter 7: Rapport Chapter 8: Social distance Chapter 9: Social exchange theory Chapter 10: Interpersonal attraction Chapter 11: Reciprocity (social psychology) Chapter 12: Affinity (sociology) Chapter 13: Social penetration theory Chapter 14: Social trap Chapter 15: Interpersonal deception theory Chapter 16: Organizational justice Chapter 17: Group cohesiveness Chapter 18: Memory and social interactions Chapter 19: Interpersonal emotion regulation Chapter 20: Functional accounts of emotion Chapter 21: Relational mobility (II) Answering the public top questions about trust social science. (III) Real world examples for the usage of trust social science in many fields. Who this book is for Professionals, undergraduate and graduate students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who want to go beyond basic knowledge or information for any kind of Trust Social Science.

Bo Rothstein explores how social capital and social trust are generated and what governments can do about it. A 'social trap' is a situation where individuals, groups or organizations are unable to cooperate owing to mutual distrust and lack of social capital, even where cooperation would benefit all. Examples include civil strife, pervasive corruption, ethnic discrimination, depletion of natural resources and misuse of social insurance systems. Much has been written attempting to explain the problem, but rather less material is available on how to escape it.

Explores the implications for democracy of declining trust in government and between individuals.

Trust in Contemporary Society, by well-known trust researchers, deals with conceptual, theoretical and social interaction analyses, historical data on societies, national surveys or cross-national comparative studies, and methodological issues related to trust. The authors are from a variety of disciplines: psychology, sociology, political science, organizational studies, history, and philosophy, and from Britain, the United States, the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Australia, Germany, and Japan. They bring their vast knowledge from different historical and cultural backgrounds to illuminate contemporary issues of trust and distrust. The socio-cultural perspective of trust is important and increasingly acknowledged as central to trust research. Accordingly, future directions for comparative trust research are also discussed. Contributors include: Jack Barbalet, John Brehm, Geoffrey Hosking, Robert Marsh, Barbara A. Misztal, Guido Möllering, Bart Nooteboom, Ken J. Rotenberg, Jiří Šafr, Masamichi Sasaki, Meg Savel, Markéta Sedláčková, Jörg Sydow, Piotr Sztompka.

This edited volume discusses the biopolitics and shock economy of COVID-19, emphasizing medical perspectives and the socioeconomic dynamics of the pandemic and the ensuing institutional responses. Written by an international, multidisciplinary group of academic and professional experts, chapters embrace a wide range of topics such as: medical perspectives on COVID-19; application of geospatial technology; infectivity, immunogenicity, and disease as important factors for adoption of relevant biopolitical measures; shock economy; COVID-19-induced transaction costs; social support and resilience of inhabitants of marginalized areas; business resilience factors; entrepreneurship; and digital transformation. Jointly addressing global examples of biopolitical governance and overarching macroeconomic effects of the pandemic, this volume will be of interest to academics across disciplines as well as policymakers and practitioners on the ground.

This volume explores the foundations of trust, and whether social and political trust have common roots. Contributions by noted scholars examine how we measure trust, the cultural and social psychological roots of trust, the foundations of political trust, and how trust concerns the law, the economy, elections, international relations, corruption, and cooperation, among myriad societal factors. The rich assortment of essays on these themes addresses questions such as: How does national identity shape trust, and how does trust form in developing countries and in new democracies? Are minority groups less trusting than the dominant group in a society? Do immigrants adapt to the trust levels of their host countries? Does group interaction build trust? Does the welfare state promote trust and, in turn, does trust lead to greater well-being and to better health outcomes? The Oxford Handbook of Social and Political Trust considers these and other questions of critical importance for current scholarly investigations of trust.