International trust and cooperation: Exploring the individual roots of institutional collaboration.

This paper explores the link between "international trust" of individuals and government policies in international institutions. The literature on social capital has begun to investigate the transnational dimension of social trust, but there is little research on its implications for policy and the effects of institutions. This gap in the literature is addressed by testing established arguments about international institutions and domestic constituencies; the core argument posits that citizens' higher trust in an international organization (IO) makes it more likely that the respective leadership follows the country's obligations within this IO. Free-riding and/or cheating by disregarding these obligations is less likely the more domestic constituents display confidence in the organization, as they become less tolerable of such choices. I analyze opinion data from the World Values Survey and data on membership payments and arrears to the United Nations in recent years to examine the role of international social trust on the fulfillment of states' obligations. This research has implications for the theory and practice of international cooperation and contributes to the current debate on the domestic roots of cooperation. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]