Trust in institutions and implications for the social contract

Abstract

This research explores the relationship that trust in institutions, more explicitly trust in the police, has with the social contract in South Africa. Trust in one another, in institutions, and in leaders are all essential components of social and economic improvement (Gould & Hijzen, 2017) because they encourage people to collaborate and stand in solidarity (Perry, 2021, p. 1). When people are not given equal opportunities economically, income gaps are likely because some are acquiring more\ than others, and this "erodes a general sense of trust" (Gould & Hijzen, 2017, p. 38). Research done by the General Social Survey for the United States "shows that trust is lower in states where inequality is high" (Alesina & La Ferrera, 2002; Rothstein & Uslaner, 2005, as cited in Gould & Hijzen, 2017, p. 38). Economic security and equality stand as some of the critical duties of the state and its institutions and as some of the fundamental anchors of the social contract between the government and its population (Perry, 2021, p. 3). When economic uncertainty spreads, as evidenced by the uncertainty that came with the COVID-19 pandemic, trust in institutions may suf