We study the causal relationship between social and political trust in a low trust society, a setting where this topic has received very little attention. We focus on contemporary Chile, a relatively consolidated new democracy lacking many of the conditions that fosters trust such as high socioeconomic equality, weak social divisions, or universal welfare policies. Our empirical analysis is based on a 4-wave panel survey applied to a representative sample of 2000 Chilean adults interviewed face to face each year between 2016 and 2019. Based on statistical models with varying specifications and assumptions, we find support for the institutionalist view that claims that political trust exercises a positive influence over social trust. However, contrary to recent findings for some European democracies (Sønderskov & Dinesen 2016, Seifert 2018), we also find that social trust positively affects political trust. Our results suggest that the positive relationship between both types of trust travels to different political settings, and that there is no minimum threshold required in levels of trust for this relationship to emerge.
Latinoamérica ha experimentado modificaciones sustantivas en los principales componentes de su matriz histórico-cultural, sobre la cual descansa parte de su capacidad para mantener unidas a sus sociedades. El panorama religioso, pasando de un monopolio del catolicismo a dinámicas pluralistas, constituye uno de estos cambios profundos. Si bien este proceso se fue desarrollando paulatinamente a lo largo de todo el siglo XX, durante las últimas dos décadas se ha dinamizado, cambiando el panorama religioso en los países de la región, aunque con diferencias importantes entre ellos. Esta transformación puede implicar una erosión de las creencias y vínculos en los que se basa la cohesión, pero al mismo tiempo puede dinamizar la sociedad civil y la participación política, integrando nuevos sectores de la población e incorporando mayores niveles de pluralidad. Este artículo propone una agenda de investigación amplia en torno al impacto que el cambio en la matriz religiosa latinoamericana tiene sobre las distintas dimensiones de la cohesión social, destacando la multidimensionalidad y la importancia de considerar la relación entre diferentes niveles de análisis.
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