Elites’ (De)legitimation Practices toward International Organizations

Abstract

Abstract Research on legitimacy of international organizations (IOs) has often focused on discursive self-legitimation by IOs. This article explores the role of other (de)legitimizing actors. Distinguishing between elites of different political and societal sectors, we use unique data from a survey of 860 political and societal elites in Brazil, Germany, the Philippines, Russia, South Africa, the United States, and a global elite group, to perform the first systematic analysis of elites’ (de)legitimation practices toward IOs. We analyze behavioral as well as discursive practices that may boost or challenge citizens’ legitimacy beliefs toward IOs, and describe how elites’ repertoires of (de)legitimation practices vary across IOs, elite sectors, and geographical locations. Explanatory analyses test whether the use of legitimation and delegitimation practices can be explained by characteristics of the interviewed elites. We find that most elites engage in (de)legitimation of IOs. Legitimation is more common than delegitimation. While discursive practices are more frequently used, behavioral practices are more widespread than acknowledged in previous research. Societal elites are more frequent (de)legitimizers of IOs than assumed in more state-centric accounts of global governance. Attitudes of elite individuals (confidence in the IO and ideological position) partly explain engagement in (de)legitimation. By providing the general pattern of elite (de)legitimation of IOs, the article sets the scene for more detailed case studies of diverse (de)legitimation practices toward specific IOs.