The effect of accumulated losses on perceptions of legitimacy
The effect of accumulated losses on perceptions of legitimacy
How do citizens react to repeated losses in politics? This paper argues that experiencing accumulated losses creates strong incentives to externalize responsibility for these losses to the decision-making procedure, which can, in turn, erode legitimacy perceptions among the public. Using a survey experiment (N = 2,146) simulating accumulated losses in a series of direct votes among Irish citizens, we find that decision acceptance and the perceived legitimacy of the decision-making procedure diminish with every loss. Three accumulated losses depress the perceived legitimacy of the political system. These effects are mediated by procedural fairness perceptions, suggesting that even when democratic procedures are used, accumulated losses can induce a belief that the process and system are rigged.
procedural fairness, democratic legitimacy, political trust, referendum, experiment, satisfaction with democracy, democracy, behaviour
465-482
Kern, Anna
c6e2b4f6-77a2-4cf4-9657-4222930f0379
Marien, Sofie
35848c79-2b71-4c0c-a89c-c83bf4a20de5
Muradova, Lala
5f2595b4-c347-4e45-bae5-bb0f5b397fa4
Kern, Anna
c6e2b4f6-77a2-4cf4-9657-4222930f0379
Marien, Sofie
35848c79-2b71-4c0c-a89c-c83bf4a20de5
Muradova, Lala
5f2595b4-c347-4e45-bae5-bb0f5b397fa4
Kern, Anna, Marien, Sofie and Muradova, Lala
(2024)
The effect of accumulated losses on perceptions of legitimacy.
European Political Science Review, 16 (3), .
(doi:10.1017/S175577392300036X).
Abstract
How do citizens react to repeated losses in politics? This paper argues that experiencing accumulated losses creates strong incentives to externalize responsibility for these losses to the decision-making procedure, which can, in turn, erode legitimacy perceptions among the public. Using a survey experiment (N = 2,146) simulating accumulated losses in a series of direct votes among Irish citizens, we find that decision acceptance and the perceived legitimacy of the decision-making procedure diminish with every loss. Three accumulated losses depress the perceived legitimacy of the political system. These effects are mediated by procedural fairness perceptions, suggesting that even when democratic procedures are used, accumulated losses can induce a belief that the process and system are rigged.
Text
the-effect-of-accumulated-losses-on-perceptions-of-legitimacy
- Version of Record
More information
e-pub ahead of print date: 25 January 2024
Keywords:
procedural fairness, democratic legitimacy, political trust, referendum, experiment, satisfaction with democracy, democracy, behaviour
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 507537
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/507537
ISSN: 1755-7739
PURE UUID: 5a5bcab6-5175-46ca-87d6-3ef581e29dc5
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 11 Dec 2025 17:50
Last modified: 12 Dec 2025 03:05
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Anna Kern
Author:
Sofie Marien
Author:
Lala Muradova
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics