Social Factors Affecting the Trust of Citizens to the Municipal Organizations (Case Study: Municipality of Kashan)

Trust is the main element and it is both a precondition and an outcome of social capital. Social trust plays a very important role in the development of organizations and communities. The main issue of this study is to investigate the social factors affecting the trust of citizens to the Municipality of Kashan. Theoretical model of the study is formed from theories of Giddens and Offe. Research method of this study is survey and data collected by questioner. All citizens of the Kashan city (289,727 people) are the target population in this research. Using multiple cluster sampling method a sample of 450 people, were selected from two municipalities of the city. The results showed that there are a significant relationship between municipal quality assessment, evaluating the performance of municipalities and civic participation as independent variables and trust to municipality as dependent variable. Finding of the study also demonstrates that trust to the institutions directly related to the performance and quality of the institutions.