Political trust – of citizens in government, parliament or political parties – has been centre stage in political science for more than half a century, reflecting ongoing concerns about the legitimacy of representative democracy. This Handbook offers the first truly global perspective on political trust and integrates the conceptual, theoretical, methodological, and empirical state of the art.

An impressive, international body of expert scholars explore established and new venues of research, by taking stock of levels, trends, explanations and implications of political trust, and relating them to regional particularities across the globe. Along with a wealth of genuine empirical analyses, this Handbook also features the latest developments in personality, cognitive and emotional research and discusses, not only the relevance, but also the ‘dark side’ of political trust.

Discerning yet accessible, this Handbook provides scholars, students and policy makers with the tools to navigate through a complexity of theories, trends, causes and consequences of political trust, whilst also directing their future research.