The Effect of Decision-Making Procedures on Losers’ Consent and Perceptions of Political Legitimacy

In recent years, scholars and policy-makers have increasingly expressed concerns about the legitimacy of political systems. In the past, citizens’ perceptions about the legitimacy of the democratic system were strengthened through elections. However, as turnout in elections declines policy-makers increasingly seek for alternatives. In this context, they have experimented particularly with direct democratic and deliberative decision-making. These procedures have been considered as suitable to strengthen legitimacy perceptions, because scholars have argued that they are perceived as more fair than participation through elections. Moreover citizens appreciate to have a direct influence in the process. It has furthermore been argued that these two characteristics – fairness and influence – weaken the negative effects that the experience of participation might have in case citizens lose the decision-making process (i.e. they do not get what they wanted). However, evidence for this claim is scarce. Therefore, during this mandate as postdoctoral researcher I want to investigate the effect of losing (repeatedly) in elections, a direct democratic and a deliberative process. By comparing the consequences of these three forms of participation, the aim of this project is to contribute to the study of the attitudinal consequences of democratic innovation.