Trust and Democratic Governance Under Polycrisis

Contemporary societies are increasingly confronted with overlapping crises (including geopolitical conflicts, democratic backsliding, climate change, economic insecurity, digital transformation, and growing social polarization) that challenge the social and institutional foundations of democratic governance. These interconnected crises intensify uncertainty and complexity while reshaping state–society relations, democratic legitimacy, and citizens’ trust in political institutions.

This panel explores trust as a core infrastructure of democratic governing - a social and institutional resource through which legitimacy, cooperation, participation, and collective action are produced, contested, and transformed under conditions of polycrisis. Rather than treating trust simply as an outcome of institutional performance, we seek to understand how democratic governance is reconfigured through changing political institutions, civic engagement, and forms of participation. We are particularly interested in the tensions between democratic responsiveness, legitimacy, and governing capacity in times of sustained uncertainty.

We welcome theoretical and empirical contributions from comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. Papers addressing trust and democratic legitimacy, state-society relations, participatory and deliberative democracy, collaborative and adaptive governance, democratic innovation are particularly encouraged. Contributions exploring how democratic governance is being reconfigured in response to complexity and uncertainty are especially welcome.