Administrative legitimacy and the democratic deficit of the European Union. Issue 3 (4th March 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Murdoch, Zuzana; Connolly, Sara; Kassim, Hussein
• Is Part Of: Journal of European public policy. Volume 25:Issue 3(2018)
• Page Start: 389
• Page End: 408
• Publication Date: 2018-03-04
• Subjects: Accountability -- democratic deficit -- legitimacy -- representative bureaucracy; European Union countries -- Politics and government -- Periodicals; Political planning -- European Union countries -- Periodicals; Politique publique -- Pays de l'Union européenne -- Périodiques; Pays de l'Union européenne -- Politique et gouvernement -- Périodiques; 361.61094
• DOI: 10.1080/13501763.2016.1268193
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1350-1763

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article suggests a new concept of measurement for the EU's oft-alleged democratic deficit based on two contributions. First, we turn attention to the administrative staff involved in policy-making rather than the (un)accountability of EUs' parliamentarians and executive agents. Second, building on the idea that policy-makers' legitimacy depends on the extent to which they can claim to represent some groups or social interests, we assess the extent to which Commission officials' preferences reflect European citizens' policy stance. Our results indicate a statistically significant positive correlation between the policy preferences of EU administrative staff and their home country population, which, we argue, can provide EU administrators a basic degree of legitimacy relative to their home country.