As a reductive term, trust is similar to other major theoretical terms such as power, equality, and justice that must be explained and are not primitive terms but are reducible to other terms. For many trust relationships, we can determine what these other terms are from the structures of those relationships, as in the account of mutual trust in ongoing exchange relations discussed in chapter 1.

DEFINE: Clarifies that trust, like power and justice, is a reductive theoretical term requiring explanation via other constituent terms rather than being primitive.

Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, loc. 298