Political trust: a multilevel governance perspective

Abstract

The chapter reviews studies of political trust in multilevel governance. It also outlines two conceptual models deriving distinct predictions on trust formation. A dyadic model of governance conceives of trust relationships as zero-sum processes - if citizens trust one actor or governance level, they are likely to distrust another actor or governance level. In contrast, a compound model of governance contends that governance is positive-sum and argues for trust accumulation and its constant interaction across governance levels. It sees governance processes as running in continuums rather than in dichotomies. Taking the EU political system as an example of multilevel governance, we engage critically with two trust mechanisms from the political trust literature which seemingly correspond to the two proposed models of governance: a compensation mechanism, where the national–EU trust relationships are negative, and a congruence mechanism, where national trust positively spills over to EU trust. We conclude with suggestions for future research.