🧵 Several people have raised questions about what I meant by "deservedly so" when referring to the decline of institutional trust. It's a fair question, so I want to explain that, because it sits at the heart of my work on how democracies collapse when their epistemic foundations rot.
Reposted from
Eliot Higgins
The conditions that have led to what’s happening in the US today exist in democracies around the world.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
They are an inevitable outcome of our collective failure to adapt to fundamental changes in the information ecosystem on which our democracies were originally built.
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Even though nothing can ever be fully trusted, it can be more or less trustworthy.
Convince the voters from the start that they are in control , when in reality they were/are pawns used by the real power holders.
Through education , through political movements , through communication advances , eyes are being opened .
- their adjustment / response to for example unchecked internet and social media discourse?
- a changed perception of the institutions due availability of information (verified or unverified)?
- increased complexity
- increased “confusion”
Both of which are easily exploited and mutually reinforcing. We can target is confusion and exploitation, while increasing complexity will continue.
I hope that you can find some sort of positivity. Perhaps for a follow up post?
Plenty of food for thought!
Verification, Deliberation, and Accountability.
Not just as abstract values—but as practical functions that sustain public trust and legitimacy. Let's call this the VDA model.
Media and science for verification
Parliaments, courts, and public forums for deliberation
Legal systems, press, and elections for accountability
But in practice? Many failed.
https://youtu.be/CDFaobk1yC4?si=3EiyYmpreNXWKKLz
Sidenote - in your list of vital civic institutions, I feel like you might have missed the most important one in this context - political parties (part. centre-right ones).
As opposed to “Hitler’s Little Helpers”?