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Neither religious nor rational: heterodoxy and institutional trust
[journal article]
Abstract According to the optimistic reading of the trust deficit in contemporary democracies, an increasingly non-religious and presumably more rational citizenry is naturally inclined to distrust public institutions. This modern shift is viewed as a positive check that can supposedly improve representative... view more
According to the optimistic reading of the trust deficit in contemporary democracies, an increasingly non-religious and presumably more rational citizenry is naturally inclined to distrust public institutions. This modern shift is viewed as a positive check that can supposedly improve representative government. We propose a more nuanced understanding of the influence of supernatural beliefs on institutional trust. Specifically, we move beyond the popular analytical dichotomy between the religious and the non-religious by separating the non-religious into a non-believer segment and a segment hitherto overlooked by studies of political trust: unconventional or heterodox believers (e.g., in astrology, lucky charms, divination and faith healing, but not in conventional religion). Using comparative data from the International Social Survey Programme, we find that heterodox believers, similarly to non-believers, tend to distrust institutions, albeit for very different reasons. The previously ignored role of heterodox beliefs points to grave implications regarding the current trust deficit.... view less
Keywords
ISSP; confidence; religiousness; attitude; science; public facility
Classification
Political Process, Elections, Political Sociology, Political Culture
Sociology of Religion
Free Keywords
institutional trust; heterodoxy; anti-science attitudes; ISSP1991-1998-2008 (ZA5070 v1.1.0)
Document language
English
Publication Year
2022
Page/Pages
p. 1-26
Journal
West European Politics (2022) OnlineFirst
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1080/01402382.2022.2145101
ISSN
1743-9655
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed