Legitimate Distrust
Why Conspiracy Theories Grow
When Institutions Fail
Series: Book 2 of The Collapse of Trust
Author: Sebastian Saviano
Publisher: Statera Press (2026)
Publication Date: April 21, 2026
For citizens, policymakers, scholars, and journalists seeking clarity on conspiracy theories, Legitimate Distrust explains why mistrust grows when institutions fail—and how transparency and accountability can rebuild trust.
Legitimate Distrust is a rigorous and provocative work of cultural and political analysis that challenges conventional understandings of conspiracy theories. Rather than treating such beliefs as fringe, irrational, or inherently dangerous, Sebastian Saviano reframes them as often logical responses to systemic institutional failures. Drawing on interdisciplinary research across political theory, sociology, history, philosophy, and psychology, this book makes a compelling case: when the social contract is eroded, when elites obscure truth, and when institutions act without accountability, suspicion is not only natural—it is rational.
As Book Two in The Collapse of Trust Series, Legitimate Distrust builds upon the foundation laid in The Allegiance Paradox, moving from the question of citizenship and betrayal to a deeper inquiry into the epistemology of mistrust. It seeks to understand not only why conspiracy theories thrive but also what their proliferation reveals about deeper civic and structural fractures..
What You’ll Learn
Core Arguments:
Conspiracy theories are often misread as mere cognitive failures or emotional overreactions. In many cases, they are expressions of “civic grief,” attempts to restore coherence in the wake of institutional opacity or betrayal.
Institutional failure is the fertile ground of conspiracism. Historical injustices (e.g., COINTELPRO, Tuskegee, corporate coverups, corruption scandals), media manipulation, and elite impunity create epistemic environments in which trust no longer seems warranted.
Dismissal breeds further alienation. When authorities and intellectuals respond to conspiracy belief with ridicule or censorship rather than inquiry and engagement, they reinforce the very patterns of exclusion and contempt that drive distrust.
Some conspiracies are real. The line between the “imagined” and the “exposed” is more porous than liberal democracies often admit. Understanding this complexity is key to rebuilding an honest civic culture.
Rebuilding trust requires structural and moral reform—not just better messaging. Public trust cannot be manufactured through public relations. It must be earned through transparency, accountability, and ethical institutional design.
Who is it For
Engaged citizens who want to understand why mistrust is rising and how it can be addressed without falling into ideology.
Policymakers, jurists, and civic leaders navigating the tradeoffs between transparency, accountability, and security.
Students and scholars in law, political science, sociology, security studies, and public policy who need an interdisciplinary framework for analyzing conspiracy theories and institutional legitimacy.
Journalists, educators, and advocates looking for clear, evidence-based ways to interpret — and communicate about — conspiracy claims in democratic life.
The Collapse of Trust Series
The Collapse of Trust is a four-volume nonfiction investigation into the fracturing of civic allegiance, institutional credibility, and cultural coherence in contemporary American democracy. At once diagnostic and synthetic, the series culminates in The Collapse of Trust, a capstone work that integrates the foundational arguments of the preceding volumes—The Allegiance Paradox, Legitimate Distrust, The Theater of Trust, and Overruling Common Sense.