Citizens, Elites, and the Legitimacy of Global Governance

Citizens, Elites, and the Legitimacy of Global Governance is the first full comparative study of citizen and elite legitimacy beliefs toward global governance. It provides a comprehensive analysis of public and elite opinion toward global governance, exploring how individual-level differences in interests, values, identities, and trust dispositions shape legitimacy beliefs. The book's central findings suggest an elite-citizen gap in legitimacy beliefs, with elites holding moderately high levels of legitimacy toward international organizations, while the general public is more skeptical. Differences in the extent to which citizens and elites trust domestic political institutions are the most important drivers of this gap. Variations in citizen and elite legitimacy beliefs across organizations and countries suggest that institutional and societal contexts condition attitudes toward global governance.

Format: Hardback
Length: 288 pages
Publication date: 28 July 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Citizens, Elites, and the Legitimacy of Global Governance is a groundbreaking book that delves into the complex dynamics of citizen and elite legitimacy beliefs towards global governance. Conducted through two meticulously coordinated surveys spanning multiple countries and international organizations, this study provides a comprehensive analysis of public and elite opinion on global governance. Theoretically, the book develops an individual-level approach, exploring how a person's characteristics, such as socioeconomic status, political values, geographical identification, and institutional trust, shape their legitimacy beliefs toward global governance.

The book's central findings are threefold. Firstly, it highlights a significant and widespread elite-citizen gap in legitimacy beliefs toward global governance. While elites generally hold moderately high levels of legitimacy towards international organizations, the general public exhibits a more skeptical stance. Secondly, individual-level differences in interests, values, identities, and trust dispositions play a crucial role in shaping citizen and elite legitimacy beliefs toward global governance, as well as contributing to the gap between them. Notably, differences in the extent to which citizens and elites trust domestic political institutions emerge as the most significant factor in shaping their assessments of the legitimacy of international organizations.

Thirdly, the patterns and sources of citizen and elite legitimacy beliefs exhibit significant variations across organizations and countries. These variations suggest that institutional and societal contexts play a vital role in shaping attitudes toward global governance. The book's insights shed light on the complex interplay between citizens, elites, and global governance institutions, offering valuable perspectives for policymakers, scholars, and practitioners alike. By examining the dynamics of legitimacy beliefs, Citizens, Elites, and the Legitimacy of Global Governance contributes to our understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing global governance in the 21st century.

This open-access title is available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license, making it freely accessible to readers at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations.

Weight: 590g
Dimension: 240 x 162 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192856241