Regulation and Trust: Systematizing a Complex Relationship

Despite growing interest in, and the increasing importance of, trust in regulatory governance and the regulatory state, we are still missing a systematic discussion of their interaction. This leads to conceptual ambiguities, disparate language for similar phenomena, and scholars talking past each other. This paper fosters clarity and systematization for a cumulative knowledge-building trajectory. We propose a multi-layered framework, which begins with a genealogy that traces how and when trust became important in the field of regulation and how it may redefine its boundaries. Next, we offer a basic typology that categorizes trust-regulation relationships into five core types—decoupled, substitutive, undermining, complementary, and reinforcing—based on mode (conflictual/cooperative) and degree (low/high) of interaction. We then expand it by disaggregating trust and regulation into key dimensions (level, design, and action) for richer, finer-grained analysis. Finally, we use the framework to introduce this special issue contributions. Our collective findings challenge conventional views depicting trust and regulation in negative, static and simplistic terms, revealing often complementary or even reinforcing dynamics, which can shift over time and be contingent upon the specific dimensions analyzed. Our framework promises to advance theoretical precision, guide empirical inquiry, and inform policy design in the field of regulatory governance.