The most important institutional alternatives to trust in our lives are government and the market, but there are many others, including various institutions and customary devices. Indeed, one could arguably go far toward explaining various institutional structures by showing how they obviate the need for acting as though we trust, at least when doing so involves risk of great loss.

XREF: Connects to discussions of trust economics (e.g., Fukuyama) and institutional design replacing personal reliance.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 508