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Determinants of Political Trust: Forms, Determinants and Alternative Mechanisms

Student: Komissarova Svetlana

Supervisor: Alexey Rotmistrov

Faculty: Faculty of Social Sciences

Educational Programme: Sociology (Bachelor)

Year of Graduation: 2017

TThere is currently the growing interest in the study of political processes. For Russia, this topic is particularly relevant, because, on the one hand, the low level of trust in political authorities and not-too-high level of involvement in the political life of the country can illustrate the existence of political apathy. But, on the other hand, the problem may be in the incorrect measurement of key concepts. That is why the research is devoted to the study of such sociological phenomena as political participation and political trust, which are unanimously considered by researchers as the most important components of democratic development and stability of the country. The aim of this study is to identify the determinants of political trust and political participation. For this reason, the European Social Survey (ESS) data from 2012 (sixth round) was analyzed. The analysis showed that political trust is directly related to interpersonal trust. 2/3 of Russians demonstrate the following dependence: with the increase in the level of interpersonal trust the level of political trust also rises. What is more, the dominant role of rational bases of political trust was established. At the same time, factors influencing political involvement were identified, among which: interest in politics, socio-demographic characteristics, different levels of trust (these predictors have different effects on different types of political involvement). Considerable attention is also paid to the analysis of the social context for political engagement. Thus, this study reveals the problem of political participation through the lens of different levels of trust, providing answers to many questions of concern to sociologists and political scientists.

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