How a direct vote and public deliberation contribute to the legitimacy of political decision-making: examining situational and individual-level moderators

Direct voting and public deliberation are often considered as a means to increase legitimacy of political decision-making. This study investigates whether the legitimizing effects of these procedural arrangements are affected by the level of threat stemming from topic associated with a decision-making situation. Further, we explore potential individual-level moderators. A vignette experiment with a mixed design was conducted (N = 220). Results showed that the presence of a direct vote as well as public deliberation increased perceived legitimacy of the decision-making process, the effect of the latter being considerably stronger. Contrary to our expectations, all legitimizing effects remained unaffected by the presence of threat. Nevertheless, the legitimizing effect of a direct vote was stronger for people who were more alienated from and less interested in politics, while it was negligible if alienation was low and interest high. The legitimizing effect of public deliberation was less strong (but still present) for people with higher right-wing authoritarianism and lower political interest.