1 Political Trust in extremis Antonis A. Ellinas and Iasonas Lamprianou Abstract The literature points out that political trust can have a major impact on democratic politics by affecting political participation, institutional effectiveness and policy choices. Given the significance of political trust for the functioning of democracy, it is important know how the way citizens relate with political actors and institutions changes in times of extraordinary shock. Using Greece as a case and data from successive rounds of the European Social Survey, this article shows that, during times of major distress, the way schools and hospitals are run – the “social” performance of government – has an important effect on political trust. This effect is stronger during the economic crisis than during normal conditions, as more citizens turn to the state for protection but are disappointed by administrative inefficiency and malfunction. The evidence suggests that international creditors must pay more systematic attention to the administrative effectiveness of social welfare institutions rather than solely focus on economic performance.