Social ties, trust and the geography of discontent

Abstract Alongside economic factors, regional variation in trust reflects the structure of social ties available to different regions. We support this claim by linking cross-national survey data from 22 countries in the European Social Survey with data on Facebook friendships. Regions with more local (within-region) connections exhibit lower political trust, but higher levels of (particular) social trust. Those regions with more social ties to national capitals and urban centres exhibit higher levels of political trust but lower (particular) social trust. Social ties to power centres support the creation of political trust and their absence limits it.