ABSTRACT
In contemporary democracies, political trust and distrust have emerged as critical themes in understanding the evolving relationship between citizens and their political systems. This chapter ventures into the complex landscape of political (dis)trust, leveraging original survey data from seven European countries (the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, and Serbia) to dissect and categorise political trust profiles. The study challenges the conventional treatment of political (dis)trust as a monolithic concept, proposing instead a nuanced typology that captures the interplay between political trust and individuals' broader dispositions towards politics and society. Drawing on a robust empirical dataset, we identify distinct political trust profiles, characterised by varying degrees of political trust, social/generalised trust, and anti-establishment orientations. Through an application of k-means cluster analysis, four unique (dis)trust subcultures are revealed: moderate, civic, cynical, and sceptical profiles, each associated with distinct patterns of political behaviour, engagement, and attitudinal orientations. This differentiation highlights the existence of both “healthy” scepticism and more corrosive forms of cynicism within political distrust, challenging simplistic narratives about the implications of trust/distrust dynamics for democracy.
