Asymmetric ratification standards and popular perceptions of legitimacy
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Author / Producer
Date
2022
Publication Type
Journal Article
ETH Bibliography
yes
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Abstract
The ratification of EU agreements is characterized by the application of different democratic procedures across member states. Building on the demoi-cratic theory of legitimate global governance, I argue that citizens benchmark their national procedure against highly visible direct democratic ratification votes held in other member states. If citizens experience unequal influence on EU decision-making, the perceived legitimacy of the EU regime erodes. I test this argument with a research design that combines a population-based survey experiment and a quasi-experiment. First, a survey experiment in Germany reveals that information about asymmetric ratification standards decrease fairness perceptions and satisfaction with EU democracy. Second, a natural experiment around the 2005 French vote on the EU constitutional treaty shows that the referendum decreased satisfaction with EU democracy in states with pending and indirect ratification. These findings suggest that asymmetric access of citizens to EU decision-making can decrease popular support for EU governance.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
29 (3)
Pages / Article No.
405 - 426
Publisher
Routledge
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Direct democracy; European Union; Experiment; Legitimacy; Ratification; Referendum
Organisational unit
03714 - Schimmelfennig, Frank / Schimmelfennig, Frank