Deliberative Trust-Repair. The case of the County Social Welfare Board
Asgeir Eriksen - Ph.D. Fellow
Advisor:
Professor Erik Oddvar Eriksen
Second advisor:
Associate Professor Anders Molander
Project period:
2005-2008
The project is financed by Oslo University College.
Summary:
In this project I would like to assess trust problems and the ability to repair them within institutions like the County Social Welfare Board (CSWB). Such an assessment generates several claims that must be met. I will approach the problem by laying out a normative theory of trust and trust repair where deliberative theory is my point of departure. The aim is to establish theoretical conditions that can help to explain the institutional design of the CSWB with regard to trust. Finally, I will consider the lessons one can draw in more general terms.
The initial goal is to develop a theoretical framework of trust and conditions for trust repair. It will be a new type of analytical tool although briefly introduced by Erik O. Eriksen, and further developed by Harald Grimen. My concept will rest within deliberative theory. I will try to combine this theoretical perspective to a functional conception of trust. The goal is a tool that ideally can remedy problems of trust in a way acceptable for citizens who abide the liberal principles of democratic rule of law. The institution claiming to attend the strategy ought to be conceived of as promoting trust by the general population and those affected through their role as citizens. Satisfying citizens’ reasonable expectations arguably serve as an underlying rationale for any trust-relationship.
The second part will discuss to what degree the institutional design of the CSWB is able to deal with trust problems in light of the deliberative perspective. I will do it by reference to conditions for trust spelled out in part one. These are general, but must also be institution-specific empirical normative demands deduced from theoretical conditions of deliberative trust repair.
The final goal is to draw more general conclusions as to the need for certain street-level institutions to ensure higher deliberative quality within their work-dimension. I will, as such, re-view the theory to see what different contexts can learn from deliberative trust and the strategy of trust repair.