Philosophical roots of trust/distrust dichotomy in the structures of contemporary public authorities
Abstract
This paper discusses the fundamental principles of trust which are of a philosophical nature. Trust/distrust dichotomy reveals the content of socio-political relations and allows specifying the level of the consent and conflict of active actors. This dichotomy contains both an element of belief and a component of psychological response and rational attitude to the problem of good and evil. Trust is a consensus between the public and the authorities. Authorities are as public as they turn out to be open and responsible, as the elites are responsible for their professional activities. In a crisis, a number of norms and principles are shifted or even completely perverted; so much that they acquire demonstratively grotesque and carnival traits. The trust in such public figures decreases to its minimum or even changes into its opposite. In the structures of contemporary public authorities, the trust/distrust dichotomy plays the role of the factor that determines success or failure, victory or defeat. The political practice shows that a public authority is a constant retreat from its philosophical roots, laid down in the ancient world (Plato, Aristotle). It is known that the trust of society in the authorities goes towards the trust of the government itself to its people. When the government trusts its people, it behaves more confidently and decisively, and, on the contrary, a low level of trust or its complete absence threatens with a conflict of interests.
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References
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