Trust and democracy

Also yesterday, in our Intro Politics lecture, we heard how trust and democracy are closely intertwined.  How for a democracy to flourish there must be trust in the system, trust in the regime, and trust in particular institutions and individuals.

But here's the thing.  Democracy is felt necessary, surely, when we don't trust each other.  When we do not trust that other people will contribute voluntarily to whatever pet projects we feel they ought to.  When we do not trust that others will not free-ride on our contributions.

So we invent a system and expect everyone to buy into it, that says, so long as you get a say in what policies get passed, through voting for example, we accept the result, and we accept that the group that is elected have the right to force us to contribute even if we did not agree to that policy.

No, democracy may require trust to work, but it is the product of an untrusting society.