Audiences of (De)Legitimation in Global Governance

AbstractThis chapter explores the composition of targeted and self-appointed audiences of legitimation and delegitimation related to global governance institutions (GGIs). The study of targeted audiences is important because it reveals whose legitimacy beliefs matter in the eyes of elites. At the same time, there are channels through which self-appointed audiences can make their voices heard, not least in influential social media. An elite survey shows that non-constituent audiences are more commonly targeted than constituent audiences. This is true across GGIs of different policy fields and geographical scope. Targeting the legitimacy beliefs of member state representatives or the general public does not seem to be a main priority for elites. It is much more common for elite respondents to target civil society organizations than to target citizens in member states. In contrast, across GGIs, citizens are more prominent among self-appointed audiences as compared to their relative importance as targeted audiences. Citizens are the dominant self-appointed audience group in legitimacy debates on all GGIs, particularly in legitimacy debates on economic/financial and peace/security-related GGIs and less in the case of sustainable development GGIs.