Between Virtuous Trust and Distrust: A Model of Political Ideologies in Times of Challenged Political Parties

Arman Teymouri Niknam*, Leif Hemming Pedersen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articleResearchpeer-review

Abstract

The analytical model of political ideologies offered in this article describes the connection between rising levels of distrust towards societal institutions in modern democracies and how such developments has challenged traditional and long-standing political parties in the Western world, such as the Danish political party Radikale Venstre [the Danish Social-Liberal Party]. Through use of a tripartite model of trust developed by Arman Teymouri Niknam during his interpretation of Mary Wollstonecraft's attitudes towards trust brought together with different aspects of Axel Honneth's social-philosophical framework, Teymouri Niknam and Leif Hemming Pedersen show how distrust may be able to act as a progressive tool in the creation of a more just, diverse and equal future and also how a virtuous and healthy form of democracy is an ideal that can be challenging to realise in practice. Teymouri Niknam and Hemming Pedersen are thus able to point to the ways in which a healthy democracy needs a balance of virtuous trust and distrust in order to achieve a good amount of both stability and progress, thus pointing to a difficult balancing act that many traditional political parties find themselves struggling with especially at this point in time in many contemporary democracies.

Original languageEnglish
JournalSATS
Volume25
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)69-89
Number of pages21
ISSN1600-1974
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jul 2024

Bibliographical note

This article was found as a 'Free version' at the Publisher on July 30, 2024. If the access closes, please contact [email protected]

Keywords

  • Axel Honneth
  • distrust
  • Mary Wollstonecraft
  • political ideologies
  • Radikale Venstre
  • Trust

Cite this