Why do people lock their doors in their everyday life and why do they trust unknown people they never meet? Why does political corruption prevail in Southern Europe but not in Scandinavia? And do people turn their backs on political parties and voluntary organizations or do organizations turn their back on their members? In this book, Apostolis Papakostas explores the interplay between distrust, trust and corruption to map out the social mechanisms that make actors and organizations in the public sphere perform their activities in a civilized manner.