Conceptualizing Trust and Distrust as Alternative Stable States: Lessons from the Flint Water Crisis.

Area of Science:

• Public Administration
• Political Science
• Sociology

Background:

• Fostering trust and avoiding distrust are crucial in governance relationships.
• Debate exists on whether trust levels directly correlate with perceived trustworthiness or if dynamics are more complex.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a novel theoretical framework for managing trust and distrust in governance.
• To apply principles from resilience theory to understand trust and distrust dynamics.
• To examine these dynamics within a real-world governance failure.

Main Methods:

• Application of resilience theory principles to governance trust.
• Development of a theory positing trust and distrust as distinct, self-reinforcing states.
• Qualitative data analysis from Flint residents, coded collaboratively.
• Examination of a documented governance failure to find evidence for the proposed theory.

Main Results:

• Trust and distrust are theorized as separate, stable states with a threshold between them.
• Self-reinforcing processes underlying these states were theorized.
• Qualitative data provided evidence supporting the distinct states theory in a governance failure context.

Conclusions:

• The resilience theory-informed perspective offers clearer insights into community experiences with governance.
• This novel approach can better equip governance actors to manage trust and respond to crises.
• Understanding trust and distrust as distinct states is vital for effective governance and resilience building.