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 element of the specific class trade-off which underpinned the broader political legitimacy from the early 1990s up until 2008 – a strong welfare state and low economic inequalities – was partly dissolved after the crisis of 2008. However, no new joint programme emerged to replace it due to the weakening of the trade unions, the EU’s stronger role in policymaking processes coupled with the shrinking differences between political parties in their social and economic policies. These changes are not only seen in the high levels of political distrust in public opinion surveys or decreasing voter turnout, but in the instability of the party arena as well.