The Dilemma of Social Trust and the Challenge of Governance in Contemporary Iran

Document Type : Research Article

Author

Department of Sociology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

10.22059/jisr.2024.386485.1563

Abstract

A social-cultural reality, social trust is rooted in the contexts and experiences of a historical-social society. The emergence of a culture of trust in a society and its integration into the normative system of the society are empowering factors that have a variety of effects and functions at different levels. The socio-cultural norm of trust underscores the fact that decisions regarding trust are deeply rooted in the social and cultural context. Due to this, trust is established within the social environment and is subsequently fortified over time. In the contemporary complex society, trust is a fundamental prerequisite for the economic, social, cultural, and political development of any society. It is a pre-contractual element and a precursor to social life. In this paper, an attempt is made to theoretically and empirically examine the relationship between social trust and governance in contemporary Iran (over the past three decades) by examining the construction of trust in two forms: universalistic trust and particularistic trust.
The research method is a single study that employs the secondary analysis of national survey data, the registration data of the Statistics Center and the Central Bank, and information and inferential findings from the researchers’ studies.
The radius and scope of the field of trust are the characteristic and criterion that serve as the foundation for the development of trust in both particularistic and universalistic forms. The first one has a restricted scope that primarily aims to fortify intra-group relations in the form of a small “us” and does not acknowledge trust or relationships with non-insiders. Conversely, generalist trust establishes the scope of trust and interaction beyond insiders, prioritizes trust and trans-group and inter-group relationships, and emphasizes the collective “us.” Collective action and play in a wider and broader field are necessary to achieve development, as opposed to the limited and small fields that result from particularistic trust. This importance is associated with universalistic trust and necessitates a transition from community to society. The presupposition of this paper is that the formation and quality of effective governance are contingent upon the presence of universalistic trust.
The results of this study indicate that in contemporary Iran, in addition to the challenge of decreasing trust, universal trust is at a low level compared to particularistic trust. The dominance and superiority of particularistic trust is one of the factors of disorder in the governance process at the local and national scales, as well as in the way of responding to the global community.

Keywords

References

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Quarterly of Social Studies and Research in Iran
Volume 13, Issue 4 - Serial Number 53
December 2024
Pages 469-494

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