Social Trust and Soft Power: The Role of Social Trust in Democratic Countries’ Soft Power Use
Journal: Scholar Commons (University of South Carolina)
Year: 2020

We have learned about democracies’ peaceful behaviour but we know relatively little about why some democracies are more peaceful and use more soft power instruments than others. I argue that contrary to competing theories that link soft power use to budget size or institutions, it is the variation in the public’s social trust that drives the variation in peaceful behaviour. Individual’s social trust toward peaceful foreign policies are shaped by their core beliefs about trusting other people, wh