University of Twente Student Theses

The EU as a People Pleaser – What drives public satisfaction with EU democracy? An empirical study on the influence of perceived input and output legitimacy on satisfaction with democracy in the European Union

Drumann, Johanna Marie (2023) The EU as a People Pleaser – What drives public satisfaction with EU democracy? An empirical study on the influence of perceived input and output legitimacy on satisfaction with democracy in the European Union.

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Abstract:	This study performs an analysis of the impact of individual perceptions of input and output legitimacy at European Union (EU) level on citizens’ satisfaction with EU democracy. Based on data assembled in the “EUI – YouGov Solidarity in Europe” project, individual-level multivariate regressions are computed. The survey was executed in Spring 2019, 2020 and 2021, and the final dataset comprises 25,222 observations. The analysis is based on the input and output dimensions of political legitimacy developed by Easton (1957, 1975) and Scharpf (1999). Following my expectations, both perceived input and output legitimacy have a positive effect on satisfaction with EU democracy. I expect perceived output legitimacy to have a stronger impact than perceived input legitimacy, as EU output is more visible and easier to understand than the input dimension. The hypothesis can also be supported by my results. Contrary to my expectations, the Covid-19 pandemic and the health-related and economic crisis it caused globally did not increase the relative importance of perceived output legitimacy. It cannot be confirmed that people focus more on fast and protective political decisions being taken and their situation getting better during crises. This may be due to an increased solidarity, but also due to citizens’ evaluation of the national level. Instead of the hypothesised stronger effect of perceived output legitimacy, the study finds support for the assumption that in general, citizens use their national democracy evaluations to derive a judgment at the EU level instead of their perceived input and output legitimacy. The analysis suggests that this national cue-taking becomes stronger in crises, as national actions are more visible and more accessible for citizens. Further research in this question is needed, but what can be confirmed is the need for more and better public information about EU actions and decisions as well as improved EU output in order to strengthen citizens’ satisfaction with EU democracy.
Item Type:	Essay (Master)
Faculty:	BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences
Subject:	89 political science
Programme:	European Studies MSc (69303)
Link to this item:	https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/95942
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