Denmark has made some major changes when it comes to combating crimes, which Sweden now is considering to imitate. This thesis aims to study the trust in the constitutional state in Denmark and Sweden the last decade and to tests Rothsteins theory about how different treatments affect people’s trust and what the state has mandate to do. 

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the differences of citizen´s trust in the constitutional state in Sweden and Denmark, how it has changed the last decade and if there is a connection between how the states acts: how different treatment of citizens affect the ones that are born outside the country by comparing Sweden and Denmark. 

The trust for the constitutional state is in general higher in Denmark than in Sweden and the last decade the trust for the constitutional state has increased in both Sweden and Denmark, but a slightly greater increase in Sweden. The trust for the constitutional state for people born outside the country has not made any major changes in Sweden, but in Denmark there is a significant reduction of trust for the constitutional state the last decade.