Trust in a Polarized Age

Successful societies run on trust, but trust in America's institutions and electoral system is in the pits. Partisans distrust each other and polarization has turned politics into war. Kevin Vallier's new book Trust in a Polarized Age applies empirical research on the causes and consequences social and political trust to develop a distinctive conception of liberalism. He offers a novel argument for a number of core liberal rights, free markets, the welfare state, and democratic institutions on the basis of their contribution to trust and its benefits.

I'd like to say Kevin and I discussed his book in detail, giving you a clear overview of his argument, but that's not really what happened. Kevin and I are old philosophy buddies, our thinking has developed quite a bit over the decade or so we've known each other, and we're both pretty digressive. So what we ended up doing here is sort of catching up through a meandering conversation that always hovers near the themes of his excellent book, but leaves the exact contours of its original, rigorous argument a bit vague. Personally, I prefer to listening to smart people think out loud over a book report, so maybe it's for the best.

This one's pretty long and and it's hard to summarize. But if you'd like to listen to a pro-life Christian political philosopher and a pro-choice atheist policy wonk speculate about what would happen if Roe v. Wade were struck down while agreeing that our acrimonious politics owes something to the anti-democratic nature of the Supreme Court, you'll have to stick around for awhile. We also take a bit of time to remember the great political philosopher Jerry Gaus, who recently passed away and meant a lot to both of us. Kevin Vallier is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Bowling Green State University and the director of Bowling Green's program in Philosophy, Politics, Economics, and Law.

Trust in a Polarized Age by Kevin Vallier

The Order of Public Reason by Gerald Gaus

The Tyranny of the Ideal: Justice in a Diverse Society by Gerald Gaus

Host: Will Wilkinson (@willwilkinson)

Audio engineer: Ray Ingegneri

Music: Dig Deep by RW Smith

Model Citizen is a production of the Niskanen Center (@niskanencenter)

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