Social and Legal Trust: The Case of Africa
(2021) p.9-28- Abstract
- This essay examines the common empirical connection between trust in people in general (social trust) and trust in the courts and the police (so-called legal trust). In much of the world there is a strong correlation between social trust and legal trust, which is sometimes interpreted as a causal connection from legal trust to social trust. But in many African countries, the correlation breaks down. We hypothesize that this is because many citizens of African countries do not see legal officials as representative of the general public, as illustrated by variation in legal trust with the form of colonialism some African countries endured, French Colonialism in particular. This result suggests that social and legal trust are connected only... (More)
- This essay examines the common empirical connection between trust in people in general (social trust) and trust in the courts and the police (so-called legal trust). In much of the world there is a strong correlation between social trust and legal trust, which is sometimes interpreted as a causal connection from legal trust to social trust. But in many African countries, the correlation breaks down. We hypothesize that this is because many citizens of African countries do not see legal officials as representative of the general public, as illustrated by variation in legal trust with the form of colonialism some African countries endured, French Colonialism in particular. This result suggests that social and legal trust are connected only when legal officials are seen as representative of most members of society. Our interpretation suggests that legal trust is a function of social trust, but not necessarily the other way around. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/e50f826d-67a4-4be8-9914-22d00f3f2166
- author
- Bergh, Andreas LU ; Bjørnskov, Christian and Vallier, Kevin
- organization
- publishing date
- 2021
- type
- Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
- publication status
- published
- subject
- host publication
- Social Trust
- editor
- Vallier, Kevin and Weber, Michael
- pages
- 9 - 28
- publisher
- Routledge
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85109613304
- ISBN
- 9780367458454
- 9781003029786
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- e50f826d-67a4-4be8-9914-22d00f3f2166
- alternative location
- https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003029786-2/social-legal-trustthe-case-africa-andreas-bergh-christian-bj%C3%B8rnskov-kevin-vallier
- date added to LUP
- 2021-09-02 23:04:52
- date last changed
- 2024-06-29 16:38:58
@inbook{e50f826d-67a4-4be8-9914-22d00f3f2166,
abstract = {{This essay examines the common empirical connection between trust in people in general (social trust) and trust in the courts and the police (so-called legal trust). In much of the world there is a strong correlation between social trust and legal trust, which is sometimes interpreted as a causal connection from legal trust to social trust. But in many African countries, the correlation breaks down. We hypothesize that this is because many citizens of African countries do not see legal officials as representative of the general public, as illustrated by variation in legal trust with the form of colonialism some African countries endured, French Colonialism in particular. This result suggests that social and legal trust are connected only when legal officials are seen as representative of most members of society. Our interpretation suggests that legal trust is a function of social trust, but not necessarily the other way around.}},
author = {{Bergh, Andreas and Bjørnskov, Christian and Vallier, Kevin}},
booktitle = {{Social Trust}},
editor = {{Vallier, Kevin and Weber, Michael}},
isbn = {{9780367458454}},
language = {{eng}},
pages = {{9--28}},
publisher = {{Routledge}},
title = {{Social and Legal Trust: The Case of Africa}},
url = {{https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003029786-2/social-legal-trustthe-case-africa-andreas-bergh-christian-bj%C3%B8rnskov-kevin-vallier}},
year = {{2021}},
}