Political trust in multi-level and global governance

Do individuals trust multi-level and global governance institutions, and to the extent they do, why? In view of pressing transboundary policy challenges, we need a firm evidence base on political trust in the international organizations (IOs) governing the globe, such as the African Union (AU), European Union (EU), Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), Southern Common Market (Mercosur), United Nations (UN), and World Trade Organization (WTO). The chapter discusses how political trust is commonly conceptualized, measured, and studied in relation to IOs. The second section pursues the core purpose of the chapter, namely, identifying avenues for future research. It provides an assessment of how greater cross-fertilization between the literatures on political trust and International Relations (IR) can be achieved. The third, concluding section summarizes the chapter’s message in three key points. First, political trust and IR theories could be more extensively combined to study political trust in multi-level and global governance. Second, more systematic inquiries are needed to explain how ongoing processes of authoritarian diffusion and technological change shape political trust in IOs. Third, we need more theorization and empirical study of political trust formation in the context of informal, private, trans-governmental, or public–private cooperation beyond the multilateral system.