Factors of Trust to Political Institutes: Theoretical Approaches and Indicators

Abstract

The paper provides an overview of the Western theoretical discourse on the problem of political trust as an element of government institutions operations. On the basis of the theoretical developments two groups of factors generating trust in political institutions - situational and sociocultural - distinguished by the origin of trust are defined. The main theoretical traditions - instrumental and normative - each of them is focused on a particular group of trust factors are considered. Indicators of trust in political institutions specific for macro- and micro level of sociological analysis are described.