Democracy and the Culture of Skepticism

"As a primer in quantitative political research, this book is without peer. As an analysis of local politics in Mexico and Argentina, it has rarely been equaled. This book should be read by every social scientist. It is a classic example of what the discipline of political science can and should be."
-CHOICE

"This is an excellent contribution to the literature on trust and democracy. The empirical focus of the previous literature on this subject has been almost exclusively on the advanced industrial democracies. Matthew R. Cleary and Susan C. Stokes fruitfully analyze this relationship in the very different context of Argentina and Mexico. They debunk the argument that interpersonal trust helps build solid democracies and persuasively argue that democracy hinges more on institutional trust. Democracy and the Culture of Skepticism has fascinating new data and makes important theoretical contributions."
-SCOTT MAINWARING, Eugene Conley Professor of Political Science and director, Kellogg Institute for International Studies, University of Notre Dame

"I was long skeptical that anyone would prick the trust balloon that has been flying high over democratic theory. But Matthew R. Cleary and Susan C. Stokes have done so with verve and data, teaching us why the experience of democracy leads attentive citizens to expect venal politicians. Democratic life according to this perceptive study is sustained by rational skepticism rather than interpersonal trust."
-DAVID LAITIN, James T. Watkins IV and Elise V. Watkins Professor of Political Science, Stanford University

Some theorists claim that democracy cannot work without trust. According to this argument, democracy fails unless citizens trust that their governing institutions are serving their best interests. Similarly, some assert that democracy works best when people trust one another and have confidence that politicians will look after citizen interests. Questioning such claims, Democracy and the Culture of Skepticism, by Matthew Cleary and Susan Stokes, suggests that skepticism, not trust, is the hallmark of political culture in well-functioning democracies.

Drawing on extensive research in two developing democracies, Argentina and Mexico, Democracy and the Culture of Skepticism shows that in regions of each country with healthy democracies, people do not trust one another more than those living in regions where democracy functions less well, nor do they display more personal trust in governments or politicians. Instead, the defining features of the healthiest democracies are skepticism of government and a belief that politicians act in their constituents' best interest only when it is personally advantageous for them to do so. In contrast to scholars who lament what they see as a breakdown in civic life, Cleary and Stokes find that people residing in healthy democracies do not participate more in civic organizations than others, but in fact, tend to retreat from civic life in favor of private pursuits. The authors conclude that governments are most efficient and responsive when they know that institutions such as the press or an independent judiciary will hold them accountable for their actions.

The question of how much citizens should trust politicians and governments has consumed political theorists since America's founding. In Democracy and the Culture of Skepticism, Matthew Cleary and Susan Stokes test the relationship between trust and the quality of governance, showing that it is not trust, but vigilance and skepticism that provide the foundation for well-functioning democracies.

MATTHEW R. CLEARY is assistant professor of political science in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University.

SUSAN C. STOKES is professor of political science at Yale University.

A Volume in the Russell Sage Foundation Series on Trust