Trust in the Constitution: Some Preliminary Thoughts on Civic Trust as a Constitutional Good

In this essay, I consider whether there is a place for trust in the American constitutional order and what it means if there is. In particular, I argue that a constitutional way of life requires a certain kind of trust, what I shall call civic trust, which I describe as an attitudinal disposition to engagement and cooperation with others in the shared project of constitutional self-governance. Civic trust is a specific conception of trust; it has a public as well as a private character and it is an essential component of a healthy and successful constitutional regime. In short: civic trust is a constitutional good. Its absence in our public life is not only a marker but also a cause of constitutional dysfunction.