The State of Trust

The title of this book, The State of Trust, carries a deliberate double meaning. On the one hand, it refers to the condition of trust in contemporary governance - its growth, strength, decline, and renewal across societies; it lifecycle. On the other hand, it points directly to the state as an institution: governments, public administrations, and political systems whose legitimacy depends on the trust of their citizens. This duality captures the essence of the study: trust is a social sentiment, but also an institutional asset. Individuals live and experience it in their daily interactions with the state, but it is also shaped by how the state performs and how it responds to its citizens. In that sense, the state of trust is simultaneously an analytical category and a normative concern, reflecting both the reality we observe and the standard we aspire to.

УНСС
София 1700
жк Студентски град Христо Ботев, ул. 8-ми декември 19
v.mitev@unwe.bg

List of tables and figures
List of eu member state abbreviations
Introduction
Cracking the trust code

• A legacy of legitimacy
• Crown meets constitution
• From rule to responsiveness
• Trust goes public
• From model to mandate
• The anatomy of trust
• The trust multiverse
• The trust constellation
• The metrics of belief
• From ambiguity to insight

In government we trust / distrust?

• Perception vs. Reality
• Built or born?
• From scatter to structure
• Trust by design
• Structural-level factors
• Process-level factors
• Outcome-level perceptions
• The economics of belief
• Individual level trust factors
• Broader structural trust factors
• Implications for governance

From insight to impact

• A trust renewal plan
• Mind the gap
• Lessons from the trustworthy
• From design to acion
• Find the trust gap
• State for repair: Bulgaria
• From gaps to gains

Conclusion
List of references
Appendices