Abstract This special issue focuses on trust in political institutions, the challenges faced by democracies, and democratic innovations. Modern representative democracies encounter multiple challenges and criticisms associated with the quality of democracy and representation. Even though public opinion...

Abstract This article examines how citizens engage with political actors on Facebook across twelve European countries, focusing on the nature and intensity of user interaction. Drawing on a dataset of over 70,000 Facebook comments on posts by national-level political leaders, we conduct a comparative...

Abstract This article is based on understanding political trust as a relational concept. In the frame of liberal democratic thought, the article refers to the relationship between citizens and political institutions, and the role played by political trust as the crucial glue that holds it together,...

Abstract Political representation and democracy in several European countries have faced considerable challenges in recent decades. Especially worrying are the decline in electoral turnout and party membership, along with the decline in political trust and growing dissatisfaction with the functioning...

Abstract The article analyses the political and economic context of the growing distrust in politics in Slovenia over the last 15 years. Focus is given to the changes in the power relations, policy changes and roles of different national and international institutions. It is established that the fundamental...

Abstract This paper examines the association between personality traits and trust. In this paper, trust is divided into two types: interpersonal and institutional. Both are fundamental for cohesion, reduction of social fragmentation, effective governance and institutional legitimacy....

Abstract The article examines the impact of collective narcissism, trust and populism on conspiracy mentality among citizens aged 65 and older in Poland. Understanding their behaviours and attitudes is crucial for at least two reasons. First, demographic shifts are leading to a growing proportion of...

Abstract Recent changes in European countries have stimulated the search for multilevel policy interventions to restore citizens’ trust and engagement, focusing specifically on democratic innovations. Our paper presents the results of a survey conducted in 2025 as part of the Horizon TRUEDEM project,...