Publication
Title
Stakeholder consultations and the legitimacy of regulatory decision-making: A survey experiment in Belgium
Author
Abstract
Agencies consult extensively with stakeholders such as industry associations, nongovernmental organizations, and trade unions. One rationale for consultations is that these improve procedural legitimacy and lead to greater acceptance of regulatory outcomes by citizens and the regulated industry. While this presumption of a positive relation between stakeholder consultations and the legitimacy of agencies is widespread, research analyzing this relationship remains scarce. Using a survey experiment, we examine the effect of open and closed consultations on the acceptance of procedures and regulatory outcomes in the field of environmental politics. The results demonstrate that consultation arrangements positively affect the acceptance of decision-making procedures, especially when regulators grant access to different types of stakeholders. However, although the consultation arrangement itself does not directly affect acceptance of the regulatory outcome, procedural legitimacy matters, as it increases decision acceptance among individuals who are negatively disposed toward government regulation.
Language
English
Source (journal)
Regulation & governance. - Carlton, 2007, currens
Publication
Hoboken : Wiley , 2020
ISSN
1748-5983 [print]
1748-5991 [online]
DOI
10.1111/REGO.12323
Volume/pages
p. 1-17
ISI
000539576700001
Full text (Publisher's DOI)
Full text (open access)
UAntwerpen
Faculty/Department
Research group
Project info
Understanding contemporary interest group politics: mobilization and strategies in multi-layered systems (iBias).
Publication type
Subject
Law 
Affiliation
Publications with a UAntwerp address
External links
Web of Science
Record
Identifier
Creation 17.07.2020
Last edited 29.11.2024
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