Trust in a polarized age
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

"Americans today don't trust each other and their institutions as much as they used to. The collapse of social and political trust arguably has fuelled our increasingly ferocious ideological conflicts and hardened partisanship. But is the decline in trust inevitable? Are we caught in a downward spiral that must end in war-like politics, institutional decay, and possibly even civil war? In A Liberal Democratic Peace, Kevin Vallier argues that American political and economic institutions are capable of creating and maintaining trust, even through polarized times. Combining philosophical arguments and empirical data, Vallier shows that liberal democracy, markets, and social welfare programs all play a vital role in producing social and political trust. Even more, these institutions can promote trust justly, by recognizing and respecting our basic human rights"--,Provided by publisher.