Helmut Melzer
Political scandals, influenced judiciary, irresponsible media, neglected sustainability - the list of grievances is very long. And led to the fact that trust in state-supporting institutions continues to sink.
Do you know the principle of trust in road traffic? Exactly, it says that you can basically rely on the correct behavior of other road users. But what if one of the most essential institutions Society can no longer be trusted?
Crisis of confidence even before Corona
Trust describes the subjective conviction of the correctness, truthfulness of actions, insights and statements or the honesty of persons. At some point nothing works without trust.
The corona pandemic shows: Not only are Austrians divided on the question of the corona vaccination, even before that there was extreme polarization on questions of politics. Six years ago, just 16 percent of EU citizens (Austria: 26, EU Commission survey) still placed their trust in political parties. The APA and OGM confidence index in 2021 is now at its lowest point in the crisis of confidence: Among the most trustworthy politicians, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen is at the top with a weak 43 percent, followed by Kurz (20 percent) and Alma Zadic (16 percent). A non-representative survey of Option readers on domestic institutions also showed enormous distrust of politicians in general (86 percent), the government (71 percent), the media (77 percent) and business (79 percent). But surveys should be treated with caution, especially in times of Corona.
Happiness and progressiveness
Nevertheless, things are different in other countries, such as Denmark: More than one in two (55,7 percent) trust their government. For many years the Danes have also been at the top of the UN's World Happiness Report and the Social Progress Index. Christian Bjornskov from Aarhus University explains why: “Denmark and Norway are the countries where people have the greatest trust in other people.” The rest of the world is only 70 percent.
There could be two main reasons for this: The “Jante Code of Conduct” certainly plays a role, which calls for modesty and restraint as a maxim. Saying that you can do more or be better than someone else is frowned upon in Denmark. And secondly, explains Bjornskov: “Trust is something you learn from birth, a cultural tradition.” Laws are clearly formulated and followed, the administration works well and transparently, corruption is rare. It is assumed that everyone is acting correctly.
From an Austrian point of view a paradise, it seems. However, if you believe the indexes already mentioned, then Austria does not do so badly on average - even if the underlying values are partly a few years ago. Are we an alpine people full of distrust?
The role of civil society
“We live in a time when trust is the most valuable of all currencies. Civil society is consistently trusted more than governments, business representatives and the media, ”said Ingrid Srinath, former Secretary General of the global Alliance for Civic Participation CIVICUS. International organizations are increasingly taking this fact into account. For example, the World Economic Forum writes in its report on the future of civil society: “The importance and influence of civil society are increasing and should be promoted in order to restore trust. […] Civil society should no longer be seen as a “third sector”, but as the glue that holds the public and private spheres together ”.
In its recommendation, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has also recognized "the essential contribution of non-governmental organizations to the development and implementation of democracy and human rights, in particular by promoting public awareness, participation in public life and ensuring transparency and accountability among authorities". The high-ranking European advisory group BEPA also ascribes a key role to the participation of civil society for the future of Europe: “It is no longer about consulting or discussing with citizens and civil society. Today it is about granting citizens the right to help shape EU decisions, to give them the opportunity to hold politics and the state accountable, ”says a report on the role of civil society.
Transparency factor
At least some steps towards transparency have been taken in recent years. We have long been living in a world where hardly anything remains hidden. The question that remains, however, is whether transparency actually creates trust. There are some indications that this initially arouses suspicion. Toby Mendel, Managing Director of the Center for Law and Democracy explains this as follows: “On the one hand, transparency is increasingly revealing information about public grievances, which initially arouses suspicion among the population. On the other hand, good (transparency) legislation does not automatically imply a transparent political culture and practice ”.
Politicians have long since reacted: The art of saying nothing is cultivated further, political decisions are made outside of the (transparent) political bodies.
In fact, numerous voices now also warn against the unwanted side effects of the transparency mantras. Political scientist Ivan Krastev, Permanent Fellow at the Institute for the Sciences of Humanities (IMF) in Vienna, even speaks of a "transparency mania" and points out that "showering people with information is a tried and tested means of keeping them in ignorance". He also sees the danger that "injecting large amounts of information into the public debate will only make them more involved and shift the focus from citizens' moral competence to their expertise in one or the other policy area".
From the point of view of philosophy professor Byung-Chul Han, transparency and trust can not be reconciled, because "trust is only possible in a state between knowledge and non-knowledge. Confidence means building a positive relationship with one another despite not knowing one another. [...] Where there is transparency, there is no room for trust. Instead of 'transparency creates trust' it should actually mean: 'Transparency creates trust' ".
Mistrust as the core of democracy
For Vladimir Gligorov, philosopher and economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw), democracies are fundamentally based on mistrust: "Autocracies or aristocracies are based on trust - in the selflessness of the king, or the noble character of the aristocrats. However, the historical verdict is such that this trust was misused. And that is how the system of temporary, elected governments emerged, which we call democracy. "
Perhaps in this context one should recall a basic principle of our democracy: that of “checks and balances”. The mutual control of state constitutional organs on the one hand, and the citizens vis-à-vis their government on the other hand - for example through the possibility of voting them out. Without this democratic principle, which has made its way from antiquity to the Enlightenment in the Western constitutions, the separation of powers cannot function. Lived mistrust is therefore nothing foreign to democracy, but a seal of quality. But democracy also wants to be further developed. And a lack of trust must have consequences.
Photo / Video: Shutterstock.
