Corporatism and Social Trust: Bringing Voluntary Organizations ‘Back In’

Abstract

In analyses of the sources of social trust, it has been found that voluntary organizations have no effect upon it. Such analyses have overlooked the role of civil society organizations as intermediary structures between the citizen and the state. This article explores how organizations, linked together in corporatist networks, help generate trust. Two mechanisms for this are pointed out. First, in societies with strong corporatist networks conflicts between employers and employees are perceived as less strong than in societies with weak corporatist networks. Second, as societies with strong corporatist networks also are more egalitarian, conflicts between rich and poor are also perceived as less pronounced than in societies with weak corporatist networks. This analysis provides definite indications that the perception of conflicts between workers and managers, and the perception of conflicts between rich and poor are intermediary variables between corporatism and social trust, and thus supports the hypothesis that voluntary organizations, through corporatist networks of negotiation and coordination, contribute to the growth of social trust.

Totgesagte leben länger: Stabilität und Kontinuität der Sozialpartnerschaft in Österreich.

“…Darüber hinaus verabschiedete die Regierung in Akkordierung mit den Sozialpartnern eine Reihe von Gesetzen, die in einem europäischen Kontext von Rezession, Austerität und Sozialabbau zu beurteilen sind, wie etwa die Einführung einer bundesweit geregelten "Bedarfsorientierten Mindestsicherung" sowie die Verabschiedung des "Sozial-und Lohndumpinggesetzes". Das spezifisch österreichische korporatistische Setting ist daher erneut in den Fokus der (internationalen) politikwissenschaftlichen Forschung gerückt (Afonso 2013, Afonso/March 2010, Afonso/Papadopoulus 2013, Leibrecht/Rocha-Akis 2014, Paster 2014, Pernicka/Hefler 2015, Torpe 2014, Wineroither 2013. In diesem Kontext zeigt sich, dass neokorporatistische Strukturen auch in einer international vergleichenden Perspektive stabil (Afonso/ Papadopoulus 2013) und für Regierungen interessant zu sein scheinen (Baccaro/Simoni 2008).…”

Housing policy and outcomes in Southern and Southeastern Europe

“…Lindvall & Sebring (2005) argued that the recently increased interest in Corporatism in policy-making and consensus can be attributed to the extensive need for mechanisms ensuring agreements and coordination in policy reforms within mature welfare systems, across various policy areas and actors with their respective group-interests. Torpe (2014) noted that corporatist networks positively affect social trust and the sense of equality. this seems especially important for housing, as systemic shifts may and often should be the result of multi-partite bargaining, to be optimized and stabilized.…”