American International Journal of Humanities and Social Science (AIJHSS)

Compared to other race groups within the Democratic Party, Black Democrats exhibit higher levels of support for strengthening international institutions. However, there is a dearth of research that seeks to explain the Party’s cleavage along racial lines towards this issue. Employing data from the 2010 Global Views national survey by the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, this research examines political trust to test how it influences support for international institutions among race groups within the Democratic Party. The results show that within the Democratic Party, different levels of political trust correlate strongly with diverse levels of trust among race groups for supporting strengthening international institutions. The article also illustrates that regardless of the level of political trust Black Democrats exhibit, they are still more likely to demonstrate greater levels of support for strengthening international institutions than co-party members of different races. In a system of government where the people are charged with choosing their leaders, playing an active role in creating legislation and adhering to an independent judiciary, political trust is essential. Trust increases one’s sense of civic duty such as voluntary compliance with laws and paying taxes – each essential functions and basic pillars of orderly democratic government (Tyler and Degoey, 1995; Scholz and Lubbell, 1998). According to Barber (1983) trust increases stability in democracies and lowers citizen angst. Numerous research attests that democracies function better if citizens trust their government (Arneil, 2006; Dahl, 1956; Hetherington, 2005; and Uslaner, 2002). In essence, without political trust democratic society is unlikely to progress (Dahl, 1971). Research on political trust has shown that it affects people's attitudes regarding intergovernmental distributions of power (Hetherington and Nugen, 2001). It also affects the level of support individuals give towards liberal domestic polices and political agendas (Chanley, Rudolph, and Rahn, 2000; Rudolph and Evans, 2005). Besides this, political trust gives political leaders the flexibility necessary, to place "collective interests ahead of parochial concerns when allocating scarce resources" (Rahn and Rudolph, 2005; Bianco, 1994). A function and responsibility at the heart of any representative governmental system.