Description
Book SynopsisThis book, prepared under the auspices of the ISA research committee on Comparative Sociology, focuses on a worldwide phenomenon: political mistrust, observable in almost all countries, in both established democracies and in authoritarian regimes. But ubiquity does not signify uniformity. The diversity of political regimes generates a multiplicity of forms and intensities of mistrust. Political mistrust seems inherent even in advanced democracies and in semi-democracies, where citizens are better prepared and more prone to criticize the dysfunctions of institutions and condemn the misconduct of politicians. Political mistrust is greatly nourished in many countries by a wide practice of public corruption. Of particular sociological interest is the vulnerability of political elites and of their frequent condemnation to “civil death”.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Political Mistrust as a Worldwide Phenomenon Mattei Dogan I Comparative Analyses Erosion of Confidence in Thirty European Democracies Mattei Dogan Political Mistrust in Latin America Timothy J. Power and Giselle Jamison Political Mistrust in Sbutheast Asia William Case Political Scandals Sighard Neckel II Contrasting Cases of National Configurations of Trust-Mistrust Norway: Trust Among Elites in a Corporatist Democracy Trygve Gulbrandsen France: Political Mistrust and the Civil Death of Politicians Mattei Dogan Nigeria: Trust Your Patron, not the Institutions Jean-Pascal Daloz III From Mistrust to Crisis of Legitimacy Argentina: Economic Disaster and the Rejection of the Political Class Frederick C. Turner And Marita Carballo How Civil War Was Avoided in France Mattei Dogan Book Reviews Analytic Index
