First me, then mine and at last others? Trust and collective action: challenges and public policy

Abstract

Trust and collective action, as attributes of community, explain basic and harmonious social relationships. However, exploiting vulnerabilities that some individuals and groups run in terms of obtaining profits, not only unbalances social harmony because they build interest and fear relationships, but they make necessary the State intervention in public policy matters. This brief defends the role of trust and collective action as basic attributes for sociability construction and puts over the table some of the main challenges that such attributes face on a daily basis. Therefore, in a first stage it explains the trust concept and, then, in the second and third stage, it declares two big enemies that are configured in terms of trap and criminal loyalties, respectively. Finally, in the last paragraph it stresses in the advantages of trust and collective action in terms of social capital and in the necessary role of public policies that, instead of destroying such capital in its design and implementation, they take advantage for social welfare.