Legitimate Distrust: Why Conspiracy Theories Grow When Institutions Fail

by Sebastian Saviano

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 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.

Kindle Edition

Expected publication April 21, 2026

About the author

Sebastian Saviano is an author and independent scholar whose work explores American identity, tradition, and the shifting nature of power. His latest book, The Allegiance Paradox: Beyond the Law – How Ethical Erosion and Policy Drift Undermine American Citizenship, is the opening volume of The Collapse of Trust series, a four-part study of how confidence in American institutions unravels—and how it might be restored.

He is also the author of America’s Cigar Story and Smoke & Oak, which trace how cigars and bourbon shaped American ritual, class, and craftsmanship. Across his work, Saviano blends historical narrative, political insight, and cultural analysis to illuminate how both everyday traditions and civic ideals define belonging in America. Learn more at SebastianSaviano.com