In the article is performed the analysis of the formation of the concept of political trust as a basis of the value of social interaction in the context of the problems of democratic legitimacy. Is emphasized the necessity of an interdisciplinary approach to the conceptualization of trust as a source of moral and normative democratic legitimacy, paying attention to the legal, strategic and value-normative dimension of legitimacy. The correlation between the concepts of political trust and legitimacy are examined in terms (...) of degree of institutional stability, situational threats of risk and danger, and analysis of processes of reasonable recognition, social coordination and moral support, applying the methodological basis of the theory of system, discourse ethics, theories of social changes, deliberation democracy. Given the normative and pragmatic varieties of legitimacy in the modern world, are investigated the reasons of the need of activation of political participation and involvement of citizens into the process of strengthening the effectiveness of the political system, promoting the institutionalization of the liberal distrust as organized social control. As a distinctive feature of the legitimacy of a new type is defined the conditionality by need of permanent creation of value-normative grounds of public recognition, where trust turns to be inner moral resource of its grounding, appearing not only as a mechanism of delegation of authority to exercise power, but also as a mechanism of participation in democracy and way of control over its implementation. Active political trust is conceptualized as an effective factor of legitimization of power by the creation of values and stimulation of their implementation, identifying the practical significance of reasonable recognition in ensuring the stability of the political system as a value-normative base of social support. (shrink)