The type of government can really shape how much people trust each other and get involved in their communities. Let’s break it down:

1. Types of Government:

   • Democracies: These governments usually have higher social trust. For example, in Sweden, which is a democracy, about 70% of people trust the government.
   • Authoritarian Regimes: In these systems, trust is often low. People in places like North Korea trust their government less than 20%.

2. Social Participation:

   • Civic Engagement: In democracies, around 65% of people often volunteer or join community groups. But in authoritarian countries, this drops below 30% because people worry about getting in trouble for participating.
   • Voting Participation: In democratic countries, about 75% of people vote. In contrast, only about 50% of people in authoritarian governments vote, often because they feel pressured to do so rather than wanting to.

3. Impact on Social Trust:

   • Research shows that when people live in democracies, they tend to trust their government more. For example, accountability (the idea that the government should answer to the people) is high, scoring around 80% for transparency. In contrast, authoritarian regimes only have about 30% trust due to a lack of openness and fear.

In short, the way a government is set up can really affect how much people trust each other and how they participate in their communities. Democracies usually encourage more involvement and trust compared to authoritarian regimes.