Generalized Trust in Multi-organizational Policy Arenas Studying Its Emergence from a Network Perspective

This study tests hypotheses linking the structural characteristics of policy networks to the feelings of trust of their members. A social capital perspective suggests that actors in denser networks should trust others more, while an alter-native “centrality ” approach suggests that trust may be a byproduct of the occupation of key positions in the group. The author tests these expectations with data mapping policy networks in twenty-two estuaries in the United States and finds that centrality is a better predictor of trust. This opens room for questioning the real value of trust as a nec-essary ingredient in the solution of collective action dilemmas