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Comparative Political Studies, Vol. 36, No. 8, 936-966 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/0010414003256116

Social Capital in (Dis)Similar Democracies

The Development of Generalized Trust in Japan and Switzerland

Markus Freitag

University of Berne

This article evaluates the foundations of a key component of social capital, namely, generalized trust in Japan and Switzerland. Although the two countries are remarkably different, they share a number of similarities with regard to political, cultural, and economic developments. In particular, the common facets of political culture and political philosophy let us expect corresponding foundations of social trust. Hence, although Japan and Switzerland differ with respect to the influence of moral attitudes, life satisfaction, and associational membership, social trust is contingent on education, daily television consumption, and cosmopolitan culture in both countries. Furthermore, although many scholars argue that political trust generally does not correlate to social trust, the author's results indicate that a great deal of confidence in political institutions provides a breeding ground for social trust in both countries.

Key Words: civil society • generalized trust • political trust • social capital • voluntary associations • uncommon democracies


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