ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the conversion of social capital into political capital in different issue areas and the crucial role of political leadership and leadership values in that process. It argues that elite care-taking, in effect, fosters confidence in the system, but only as long as citizens or their organisations are involved in the support-seeking process. The chapter looks at the mechanism of care-taking and trust in Poland and Ukraine locally. The development in Poland and Ukraine from 1991-95 indicates that local leaders did not change many of their views on what they perceived to be primarily local responsibilities. Political preferences are salient, as are alliances or networks in forming support for political action. Care-takers - powerful as they are in feeling both local government responsibility and individual, political influence. Strong correlations thus exist between care-taking in certain issue areas and trusting people, both in Wroclaw and L'viv.
